Google on Tuesday confirmed that it has purchased Skybox Imaging, the satellite startup that we reported it was close to acquiring last month. The price is somewhat lower than we had heard it would be: $500 million rather than close to the $1 billion our sources had told us. Once the deal closes, Skybox’s employees will wear a few different hats. Mainly, they will be a part of the Access and Energy team. They will continue launching satellites and work closely with the Google’s Geo team to improve imagery in Google’s products. They will also longer term look at how satellite tech could contribute to Google’s Internet access work, alongside Google’s Loon project and Titan Aerospace. In Skybox’s announcement, the company touts the fact that its satellites are the world’s smallest — and also that they are already actively collecting data.

Read the full story at TechCrunch.