|
 Titan Chief Executive Vern Raburn declined to provide information on
the price of the deal, which he said closed on Monday morning.
The 20-person company will remain in New Mexico for the foreseeable
future, Raburn said, with all employees joining Google.
The deal could further Google's efforts to deliver Internet access
to remote regions of the world. Last year Google launched a small
network of balloons designed to deliver Internet access over the
Southern Hemisphere, dubbed as Project Loon.
"Atmospheric satellites could help bring Internet access to millions
of people, and help solve other problems, including disaster relief
and environmental damage like deforestation," Google said in an
emailed statement confirming the Titan acquisition.
Google's acquisition of Titan comes several weeks after rival
Facebook Inc announced plans to build solar-powered drones and
satellites capable of beaming Internet access to underdeveloped
parts of the world. A few weeks before Facebook's announcement,
press reports said that Facebook was in discussions to acquire
Titan.
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Titan is developing a variety of solar-powered "atmospheric
satellites," according to the company's website, with initial
commercial operations slated for 2015. The drones, which fly at an
altitude of 65,000 feet and can remain aloft for up to five years
and have a 165-foot (50-meter) wingspan, slightly shorter than that
of a Boeing 777.
News of the acquisition was first reported on Monday by the Wall
Street Journal.
(Reporting by Lehar Maan in Bangalore;
editing by Savio D'Souza and
Andrew Hay)
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