Facebook has announced it will start test flights later this year of a solar-powered drone that will deliver Internet service to remote areas of the world.

Engineers say the drone will use lasers to send Internet signals to stations on the ground.

The laser communications system should be accurate enough to hit a target the size of a dime at a distance of 11 miles, says Yael Maguire, the company’s director of the business unit that is responsible for drones, satellites and other high-tech communications projects.

Each drone will fly in a circle with a radius of about 2 miles, which the engineers hope will enable it to provide internet service to an area with a radius of about 31 miles.

Plans call for them to operate at around 90,000 feet, which would put them well above commercial airspace and thunderstorms. At night, they would lower to about 60,000 feet to conserve battery power.

The drones will use laser optic technology, which allows data to be transmitted at up to 10 gigabits per seconds. That is comparable to fiber networks on the ground but about 10 times faster than standard laser signals, he says.

The wingspan of the solar drone is expected to be around 140 feet, the same as that of a Boeing 737.