Visitors stand next to a high altitude WiFi internet hub, a Google Project Loon balloon, on display at the Air Force Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, on June 16, 2013.

Alphabet's Project Loon just passed a big test in its plan to beam internet to Earth from giant balloons, successfully pinging data across a 1,000-kilometer span.

Project Loon makes internet-delivery balloons to provide access in remote locations, and "graduated" from Alphabet's X research division to become its own independent business in July. The balloons rally a single connection from a ground-level link from one balloon to the next, while moving and diverging.