Google Reportedly Acquiring Satellite Start-Up Skybox

No stranger to big acquisitions, Google is said to be interested in Satellite start-up Skybox. The deal, reportedly worth $1 billion, would roll the service in-house, and likely keep a good portion of Skybox's staff with Google. The satellite firm was last valued at roughly $700 million last year.

Skybox uses satellites to offer up high-resolution imagery of Earth, much like Google does for Maps. The difference is, Skybox is just plain better at it. Google also relies on outside sources to get their imagery, so having their own team of satellites in orbit is likely an attractive idea.

Aside from the obvious Maps correlation, some are speculating Google could/would use the acquisition to bolster their Earth Enterprise mapping service, which provides satellite imagery to businesses. Given Google's recent, widespread push toward the enterprise space, that's not far-fetched.

Furthermore, Skybox is a Mountain View, CA based company — right in Google's backyard. Sources claim the deal is done, and waiting on details to be hammered out.

It's not the first of Google's skyward ambitions, though. They recently purchased drone manufacturer Titan Aerospace, and their nascent Project Loon commands the sky as well. Skybox may serve to provide aerial imagery to those crafts as well as satellites; we don't know, but it makes a lot of sense for Google to diversify their alleged pending investment if possible.

Source: TechCrunch