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# imagery
Google buys satellite company Skybox Imaging for $500 million
The acquisition will see Skybox’s satellites being used to keep Google Maps up to date as well as help it improve internet access and disaster relief.
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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