GOOGLE HAS JUST bought the satellite company Skybox Imaging for $500 million in cash, subject to adjustments.
In a statement announcing the purchase, Google said that Skybox’s satellites will “help keep Google Maps accurate with up-to-date imagery.
It also hopes that the team behind Skybox and the technology it users will be able to help improve internet access – tying in with Google’s Project Loon which aims to bring internet access to the most remote parts of the world – as well as disaster relief, an area that Google says it has been “long interested in .”
Skybox Imaging builds satellites and provides access to detailed imagery and high-definition video of landscapes.
In a statement on its site, the Skybox team said it was the right time to “join a company who can challenge us to think even bigger and bolder and who can support us in accelerating our ambitious vision.”
Skybox and Google share more than just a zip code. We both believe in making information (especially accurate geospatial information) accessible and useful. And to do this, we’re both willing to tackle problems head on — whether it’s building cars that drive themselves or designing our own satellites from scratch.
Skybox Imaging builds satellites and provides access to detailed imagery and high-definition video of landscapes. Here’s an example of some of its work.
Skybox Imaging / Vimeo
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