CAMBRIDGE, UK — Two British firms recently announced their plan to deliver 5G internet to planet Earth from giant drone planes that can fly in the stratosphere for up to 9 hours at a time.

Unlike SpaceX's Starlink service, which will see thousands of satellites hanging in low Earth orbit, this new concept will require thousands of giant drones taking off and landing all the time, worldwide.

However, the two companies — Cambridge Consultants and Stratospheric Platforms Limited, or SPL — say that as few as 60 drones would be able to cover a country as big as the UK.

The developers say the core of their stratospheric 5G concept is a cutting-edge antenna that can produce 480 steerable 5G beams that create patterns that can be 'painted' onto the ground to cover specific areas — such as roads, railway lines or shipping lanes.

The huge antenna would be strapped to a drone that can provide its huge power requirements.

Each drone will have a massive wingspan of 60 meters and would use eco-friendly but highly combustible hydrogen fuel, which would give it 9 hours of flying time.