Project Loon is a research and development project undertaken by X (formerly Google X) to provide Internet service in rural and remote regions using high-altitude balloons. Internet is transmitted from a telecommunications provider on the ground, through the network of balloons, and then back down to users on the ground. The balloons are stationed in the stratosphere about 20 kilometres above the ground and Google uses weather data and decision-making algorithms to direct the balloons through different layers of wind.
The project was officially launched on 14th June 2013. The fleet of balloons have since been tested in countries including Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, and flown more than 17 million kilometres of test flights. On 28th July, Google and the Sri Lankan Government signed a memorandum of understanding which aimed to see free LTE connections available across the country by March 2016. However, despite no official statements from Google, the project appears to have been delayed.