谷歌耗資5億美元收購一家衛星公司

Deal will improve Google’s map imagery and help spread Internet access around the world.

谷歌（Google）在太空科技領域的地位將得到進一步增強。

Google GOOG -0.28% is about to increase its foothold on outer space tech.

一份聲明顯示，這家互聯網巨頭以5億美元收購了衛星公司Skybox Imaging。

The Internet giant has purchased satellite company Skybox Imaging for $500 million, according to astatement.

據報道，谷歌首先將利用此項收購改善其電子地圖的圖像質量。未來，谷歌也可能利用這家公司的服務將互聯網鋪到全球更多地方。

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“Skybox的衛星將幫助谷歌地圖（Google Maps）準確提供最新圖像。假以時日，我們還希望Skybox的團隊和科技將能幫助改善互聯網接入和災難救援——這些是谷歌長期以來非常感興趣的領域。”谷歌表示。

The company will reportedly first use the acquisition to improve its imagery for digital maps. Down the road, Google may also use the company to bring the Internet to more places around the world.

與此同時，Skybox也讚揚了這一新的合作伙伴關係：“我們雙方都主張讓信息（特別是準確的地理空間信息）變得更易獲得和產生價值，”該公司在其博客中宣稱。

“Skybox’s satellites will help keep Google Maps accurate with up-to-date imagery. Over time, we also hope that Skybox’s team and technology will be able to help improve Internet access and disaster relief — areas Google has long been interested in,” Google said.

Skybox補充說，協議“尚未最終完成”，而谷歌也提到，此項交易仍“取決於常規完成交易條件”，包括美國監管機構的批准等。