Facebook eyeing drone maker for 'Internet to all' mission

Social media giant Facebook is reportedly eyeing a drone manufacturer for its mission to provide Internet access worldwide.

Facebook is set to acquire Titan Aerospace for a speculated 60 million dollars as part of Internet.org, an initiative launched by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last year, which aims to bring the entire world online.

According to Tech Crunch, the goal is to use these high-flying drones to blanket parts of the world without Internet access, beginning with Africa.

The company would start by building 11,000 of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), specifically the 'Solara 60' model, which function as 'atmospheric satellites' that can conduct most of the operations of an orbital satellite, but are cheaper and more versatile.

The report said that Facebook's project competes with Google's 'Project Loon,' aimed at the same goal of providing connectivity to all, only difference being the use of drones instead of Google's large balloons.