Google moves into drone market with Titan purchase

Google is adding drones to its fleets of robots and driverless cars.

The internet-search company said yesterday that it acquired Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude, solar-powered satellites that provides access to data services around the world. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Google is looking for new ways to offer online services to users through Project Loon, which it unveiled last year to help connect people in rural or remote areas to the web using balloons and other machinery.

The drones also provide high-resolution images of the earth, navigation and mapping services, and atmospheric monitoring systems.

“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,” Tim Drinan, a spokesman for Google, said in a statement yesterday.

“It’s why we’re so excited to welcome Titan Aerospace to the Google family.”

With Titan, Google is joining other Web companies that have started experimenting with flying machines.

Last month, Facebook said it acquired Ascenta, a UK-based aerospace company that also works with drones, as part of an effort to deliver the web to underserved areas.

Facebook had earlier expressed interest in acquiring Titan before deciding against it, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Vanessa Chan, a spokeswoman for Facebook, declined to comment.

Facebook’s interest was reported last month by TechCrunch.

In December, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said the world’s largest online retailer is working with octocopters to deliver goods within a 10-mile radius from a company fulfillment centre, with the aim of using the machines in four to five years.

Google has been investing in numerous projects outside its main Internet-search business to extend its reach.

The company has spent on products like Google Glass connected eyewear and driverless cars.

Last year, Google acquired Boston Dynamics, which makes robots for the US Defense Department. That company, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, is part of a new product area led by Andy Rubin, former head of the company’s Android mobile- software unit.

Google could use the acquisition of Titan for more than just connecting people to the Internet, said Greg Sterling, an analyst at Opus Research in San Francisco.

Other applications could include a tie-in with robotics or with mapping.

- Bloomberg