Facebook eyes drone maker to replace satellites to get web to poor countries

Facebook is reportedly interested in acquiring a company that makes drones capable of flying at high altitudes for up to five years at a time, to replace satellites

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Facebook is reportedly in discussions to acquire Titan Aerospace, a manufacturer of drones. Photo: AP

Published: 9:04pm, 5 Mar 2014

Facebook is reportedly interested in acquiring a company that makes drones capable of flying at high altitudes for up to five years at a time, to replace satellites.

Facebook is reportedly in discussions to acquire the company Titan Aerospace, a manufacturer of drones, for about US$60 million.

Titan Aerospace specialises in solar-powered, high-flying drones capable of staying airborne for long periods. The drones, dubbed "atmospheric satellites", are a cost-effective alternative to orbital satellites.

The talks, confirmed by technology website TechCrunch, indicate that Facebook is likely interested in the drones that fly as high as 20 kilometres as part of its internet.org initiative.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress last month to elaborate on the internet.org coalition's plans to connect the next five billion people to the internet in developing nations. The drones could be used to blanket large areas of Africa and other countries with internet access.

A source told TechCrunch that Titan Aerospace would be fully committed to the internet.org project post acquisition and that it would start building 11,000 drones for the effort.