Google is reportedly in advanced talks to buy satellite company Skybox Imaging for about $1 billion, TechCrunch reports.
Skybox Imaging builds satellites and deploys data centers. It also records and provides access to detailed imagery and high-definition video of landscapes.
If Google does buy Skybox Imaging, it would make sense for the search giant to use the company’s high-quality, real-time photos and videos to improve its Google Maps and Google Earth offerings.
Meanwhile, Google may also see this potential acquisition as a way to bring internet to the two-thirds of the population who don’t have it. Google has already announced Project Loon, a network of balloons to beam internet access. Google also recently bought Titan Aerospace, a company that makes high-flying solar powered drones.
It seems that Google sees drones, balloons, and satellites as a means of beaming internet connections around the world, and therefore expanding the reach of its service.
