Google To Buy Satellite Maker Titan Aerospace

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) on Monday announced that it has agreed to buy solar atmospheric satellite maker, Titan Aerospace, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google has since confirmed, in an emailed statement to Benzinga, it is welcoming Titan to the Google family.

Titan Aerospace will remain at its home base in Moriarty, New Mexico, and continue to be run by CEO Vern Raburn.

The Titan Team will work with Google's Project Loon, which is building high-altitude balloons to send internet signals to areas that are not online. According to the WSJ, Titan Aerospace remarked that its drones “will be able to collect real-time, high-resolution images of the earth, carry other atmospheric sensors and support voice and data services.”

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The drone maker may also work with the Google Project Makoni, which is developing an energy efficient wind turbine. The Titan and Google teams will concentrate on creating advanced lightweight material design for flying vehicles and algorithms to predict wind and flight planning.

Titan is working on two dragonfly-shaped drones. The drones will use solar panels to charge the batteries and keep the instruments aloft at night. The company's website claims their satellites can deliver internet speeds up to 1 gigabit per second faster using specialty equipment and expects initial operations in 2015.

Shares of Google closed at $530.60 on Friday and are currently up 0.65 percent at $534.05. AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) shares are also trending higher today following the announcement, currently up 1.376 percent at $35.37.