 While the prototype used a launch trolley to become airborne, production Aquilas are intended to be launched using helium balloons, carrying the aircraft to their operational height and releasing them; landings would take place on grassy surfaces.Aquila is intended to fly at altitudes of up to during the day, dropping to at night, with an endurance of up to three months, providing Internet service to a -radius area below its flight path; if communications spectrum was assigned for the project, it would allow the 66% of Earth's surface that has poor or no internet access to be connected.The technology, which used high-bandwidth lasers to beam the Internet to remote locations, was intended to provide access to 4 billion users, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.