It is known to all that Alphabet is in the process of internal restructuring and for this, as they themselves have commented at some point, they must work to set the company's objectives in the medium and long term, getting rid of all the companies that are part of it. of Alphabet and that, for one reason or another, it is understood that they can no longer contribute anything new to the future of the company or directly are not profitable enough.
Due to this major restructuring, we have been able to see how Alphabet has directly decided to close initiatives such as Project Titan, Project Wing, Google Fiber ... among others. With all this in mind, it is much easier to understand the new step that Alphabet has taken by announcing the sale of that unit that was responsible for take high definition satellite images of our entire planet.
It is estimated that Planet Labs will have to pay about $ 300 million to Google for the purchase of Terra Bella.
Specifically we talk about Earth Beautiful, as it is known today or Skybox Imaging, the name that the company had in 2014 when at that time, after paying 500 million dollars, Google decided to acquire it. Along the way there is that large amount of images that have been necessary to nourish Google Earth and that have served so that many of us can have a more real perspective of what the planet on which we live is like.
Although the details of the sale are not known, it is estimated that the operation has been closed in about 300 million what has paid Planet Labs to Alphabet for staying with Terra Bella and the seven high resolution SkySat Earth satellites that now add to the more than 60 they have in Plantet Labs of medium resolution. In the agreement, it appears that Google will be able to continue using the photos for its services for an unlimited time.
Further information: Planet Labs