Google wants to conquer space, as we can see from its most recent business ventures. Just two days after its announcement that Google plans to acquire satellite imaging company Skybox, Google is at it again. This time, the company is reportedly planning to buy a stake in Virgin Galactic.
The report, which was first made by Sky News, says that Google is in "advanced talks" to place a minority $30 million stake in Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and invest an undisclosed amount that is somewhere in the range of "hundreds of millions of dollars" in Sir Richard Branson's ambitious space tourism venture, which aims to take well-heeled clients who can pay $200,000 for a ticket to an orbital space flight around the Earth.
Sky News cited a person close to the talks that Google's $30 million stake equates to 1.5% of Virgin Galactic's shares and values the company at $2 billion.
"The deal could be reputationally valuable for Virgin Galactic, which has had to defend itself against frequent suggestions that problems with its development will curb its viability," reported to Sky News.
Virgin Galactic, which hopes to launch its inaugural flight sometime towards the end of the year, has been the subject of criticism after experiencing numerous delays in the development of its passenger spaceship's engine. As of the moment, the company's popularity rests largely on hype fueled by celebrities such as Katy Perry and Ashton Kutcher shelling out the money for tickets on its first flight, rather than on actual achievement. If all goes well with the first flight, Virgin Galactic could start offering regular commercial flights by the start of 2015.
Around one-third of Virgin Galactic is owned by Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments, which valued the company at $900 million and bought a 32% stake for $280 million. If the $30 million with Google is pushed through, it would mean Virgin Galactic's equity value has more than doubled since then.
It could also be a boon for Google, which has made clear its desire to launch hundreds of satellite into orbit that will allow the company to bring broadband services into corners of the world not yet penetrated by the Internet. Google has already purchased drone-maker Titan Aerospace earlier this year, which Google wants to create solar-powered drones for bringing Internet access to various parts of the globe.
And earlier this week, Google announced that it plans to purchase Skybox for $500 million. Skybox is a startup company that focuses on capturing high-resolution satellite images and 90-second videos of the Earth. Although the acquisition is initially for improving Google Maps and Google Earth, Google said it plans to use Skybox assets to further Project Loon, its initiative to bring balloon-powered Wi-Fi to all parts of the world.
