by Laurens Slats, LoRaWAN Solutions Architect, The Things Industries

Images courtesy of The Things Industries

After almost two years, the world record for distance traveled by a data packet based on the LoRaWAN® protocol – 702 kilometers (436 miles) – has been broken. Set in 2017, this record was regarded by many as nearly impossible to break; that is, until the recent Servet IV mission. On July 13, 2019, the previous record was exceeded by 64 kilometers for an astonishing distance of 766 kilometers (476 miles).

On Saturday, July 13, 2019, seven balloons of different sizes launched from Alfamen in Zaragoza, Spain. The balloons carried 20 experiments from developers, ranging from young talents to veteran makers. The balloons were tracked using The Things Network, LoRaWAN-based networking infrastructure by APRS and by satellite using Spot.