Google Follows In Facebook's Footsteps And Purchases Drone-Making Titan Aerospace

Google Inc. reported the purchase of Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones, on Monday citing internet access in remote parts of the world as one of the issues the company could help them solve, according to Forbes.

The financial terms were not disclosed but Google did say that atmospheric satellites could also be used in disaster relief and assessing environmental damage, Forbes reported.

Titan's atmospheric satellites are still in development and not yet commercially available, according to Forbes. The drones can currently stay in the air for as long as five years, according to reports.

Titan's website cites a wide range of uses for the drones, including atmospheric and weather monitoring, disaster response and voice and data communications, Forbes reported.

Earlier this year Facebook Inc. also said they were interested in Titan but it acquired U.K.-based solar drone company Ascenta instead, according to Forbes. Facebook recently purchased Ascenta for $20 million and now.

On the Titan's barebones Web site, the drone-producing company announced: "We're thrilled to announce that Titan Aerospace is joining Google," Forbes reported.

Titan Aerospace is developing two insect-like drones, similar to that of Ascenta, with the smaller of the two with a wingspan a tad larger than a Boeing 767 and wing-mounted solar panels that will power the aircraft's batteries to keep it afloat at night, according to Forbes.

The aircraft will fly as high as 12 miles in the sky and are expected to have a long-term aerial lifespan of five years, Forbes reported.

Titan Aerospace will also be outfitting its drones with imaging technology that could bolster the efforts of other Google initiatives like Maps, according to Forbes.

The imaging technology will include high-resolution imaging of the Earth, atmospheric sensors and other satellite-provided cellular functions like data and voice call connection, Forbes reported.

"It's still early days for the technology we're developing," in particular "atmospheric satellites," Titan said on its Web site, according to Forbes. "There are a lot of ways that we think we could help people, whether it's providing Internet connections in remote areas or helping monitor environmental damage like oil spills and deforestation."

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