In an update posted on Project Loon's Google+ page, Google said that the project's balloons have already traveled a total of 3 million kilometers since Project Loon was launched in 2013.
Google also revealed that it is now capable of launching up to 20 balloons daily, as the project's team continues to improve the ability to launch the balloons consistently at scale.
The capability of Google to launch 20 balloons daily is aided by autofill equipment developed by the company to fill the balloons with the air equivalent of 7,000 party balloons in less than five minutes.
Google said that it has learned a lot over the life span of the project in its quest to connect everyone to the Internet, no matter their location.
One such insight that Google playfully reveals is that it is best for the manufacturing team working on Project Loon to wear very fluffy socks while walking on the balloon envelopes. The socks -- the fluffier the better -- ensures the least friction in the building of the project's balloons.
The fluffy socks are just one of the many discoveries that have allowed Google to develop Project Loon's manufacturing process, allowing the balloons to now last up to 10 times longer up in the planet's stratosphere compared to how long they lasted last year. Google added that many balloons last over 100 days, with the longest-lasting balloon staying up in the stratosphere for 130 days.
In addition to launching the balloons and making them stay up there the longest possible time, Google said that it also needs to accurately direct the balloons to where they are supposed to go. Through constant computations of thousands of simulations for the trajectory of the balloons, Google reveals that it is getting very close to its targets, with one balloon coming within 1.5 kilometers of its target destination after a flight that spanned 9,000 kilometers. Google was able to do this purely by predicting and moving the balloons with the winds of the stratosphere.
Being able to accurately maneuver the balloons can position them to where users need them to be in order to connect to the Internet, and will also make it easier for Google's recovery teams to get the balloons once they reach the end of their tenure.
Google has not yet worked out all the kinks though, as several balloons have fallen out of the sky in public places. The most recent incident happened in South Africa, when a balloon landed on the property of a farmer.
