Facebook Looking to Enter Drone Business with Titan Acquisition
Positioned in unregulated airspace, the satellite drones would further Facebook's goal of bringing Internet access to developing countries.
TechCrunch reported today that Facebook is buying Titan Aerospace, makers of near-orbital, solar-powered drones that can fly for five years without needing to land. According to TechCrunch sources, the price of the acquisition is $60 million.
Facebook is a founding member of Internet.org, an initiative to provide Internet access to the entire world — two-thirds of which are still without Internet access — and the Titan acquisition would further that goal. The company is interested in blanketing Africa with the high-flying drones.
Once the deal is inked, Facebook would start building 11,000 unmanned “atmospheric satellites,” which are more versatile and less costly than orbital satellites.
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