Google (GOOGL) has acquired Titan Aerospace, the maker of high-altitude drones that could help the search giant deliver wireless Internet access to remote parts of the world, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Google did not disclose a purchase price for the Moriarty, N.M.-based Titan, whose solar-powered drones, which it calls “atmospheric satellites,” are designed to fly for five years consecutively without landing and can provide voice and data services, according to the company.
“Titan Aerospace and Google share a profound optimism about the potential for technology to improve the world. It’s still early days, but atmospheric satellites could help bring internet access to millions of people, and help solve other problems, including disaster relief and environmental damage like deforestation,” a Google spokesperson writes.
Earlier this year Facebook (FB) was reportedly in talks to buy Titan for $60 million, but the social network later said it was buying Ascenta, a U.K.-based aerospace firm which makes its own solar-powered unmanned aircrafts, for $20 million.
Titan and its roughly 209 employees will remain based in New Mexico, the Journal report said.
The company expects initial commercial operations in 2015.
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