Google has acquired Titan Aerospace, the drone startup that makes high-flying robots which was previously scoped by Facebook as a potential acquisition target, the WSJ reports. The details of the purchase weren’t disclosed, but the deal comes after Facebook disclosed its own purchase of a Titan Aerospace competitor in U.K.-based Ascenta for its globe-spanning Internet plans earlier this year in March.

Both Ascenta and Titan Aerospace are in the business of high altitude drones, which cruise nearer the edge of the earth’s atmosphere and provide tech that could be integral to covering the globe in cheap, omnipresent Internet connectivity to help bring remote areas online. According to the WSJ, Google will be using Titan Aerospace’s expertise and tech to contribute to Project Loon, the balloon-based remote Internet delivery project it’s currently working on along these lines.

That’s not all the Titan drones can help Google with, however. The company’s robots also take high-quality images in real-time that could help with Maps initiatives, as well as helping monitor environmental damage like oil spills and deforestation and contribute to things like “disaster relief”, a Google spokesperson tells WSJ. The main goal, however, is likely spreading the potential reach of Google and its network, which is Facebook’s aim, too. When you saturate your market and you’re among the world’s most wealthy companies, you don’t go into maintenance mode; you build new ones.

As for why an exit to Google looked appealing to the New Mexico-based company Titan, whose drones are capable of flying at a reported altitude of 65,000 feet for up to three years, one has to take into consideration that there was also a lot of risk involved that would’ve made it difficult to find sustained investment while remaining independent. Google enables the founders to do just that: continue their research, testing and design work as part of the Google family and not having to worry about raising money from other VC’s anymore.

Titan Aerospace also represents just the latest in a string of robotics acquisitions Google has been making lately, which include Boston Dynamics and seven other companies purchased to help fuel its experimental robotics program. There’s no question Google is eager to stay ahead of competition like Facebook. And thanks to Loon ambitions, the reasoning behind the Titan buy might just be the most transparent yet.