Google's Project Loon uses high-altitude balloons floating in the stratosphere to provide internet access to remote and rural areas. The project aims to give internet access to the two-thirds of the world's population that is currently unconnected. Project Loon launched its first test of 30 balloons over New Zealand's South Island in 2013 to refine the technology. The balloons float twice as high as airplanes and are steered by rising and descending to winds moving in desired directions, connecting people on the ground through signals bounced between balloons before reaching the global internet.