KSAT announcing impactful cross-industry collaboration with Microsoft
22. September 2020
Kongsberg Satellite
Services (KSAT) is announcing an impactful
cross-industry collaboration with Microsoft at
Microsoft Ignite 2020. By integrating their
world-leading capabilities, KSAT will work with
Microsoft to explore new ways to make satellite
data more accessible through Microsoft Azure
Orbital, which is a new ground station as a
service from Microsoft enabling customers to
directly ingest data from their satellites into
Azure, for processing and storage.
By combining industry
experience, technology and cutting-edge
expertise in their respective fields, the two
companies will explore innovative methods for
transporting, processing, and storing large
amounts of space-based data in a new and
integrated way through Azure Orbital Services.
The space industry is a
fast-growing industry. New satellites are
launched almost weekly and the amount of
information retrieved from space is increasing
every day. Finding the most efficient and
sustainable solution for managing these huge
amounts of data and making it available for
government and commercial users is increasingly
important in the years to come.
As one of the world’s
largest providers of ground communications
services for satellites and launch vehicles,
KSAT is dedicated to making sure the customer’s
data gets from space to where they need it on
Earth in a fast and reliable manner.
Rolf Skatteboe, President
and CEO of KSAT said: “Communication with
satellites via strategically located ground
stations, extensive ground-based communication
networks and cloud-based solutions is a
future-oriented approach that can create
opportunities for new ways of using
satellite-based information. Being able to
deliver satellite data and run
resource-intensive computing such as machine
learning techniques and other applications using
cloud-based solutions will not only change the
way we deliver our services, but also how our
customers will be able to utilize this
information in the future. This is why we are
pleased to announce our collaboration with Azure
Orbital to provide integrated, global support
for transporting, processing, and storing
space-based data.”
Some of the most important
sources for updated knowledge about our planet
are space-based sensors on satellites. Satellite
data is used for weather forecasts and hurricane
warnings, to detect oil spills and expose
illegal fishing, as well as to monitor ice
movements and sensitive ecosystems like tropical
rainforests. Space-based communications
infrastructure is also an important tool in
emergency response scenarios such as search and
rescue, maritime communications, and following
the destruction of terrestrial communication
networks (as in extreme weather or wartime
scenarios).
As the world experiences
more change, more information is required for
developing appropriate response plans. More
space-based platforms are being built to address
this demand for more data. In turn, more
satellites being launched drives a requirement
for an expanded communications and processing
infrastructure here on Earth.
“This is about more than
pure technology and two large companies. We live
in a time of great challenges where climate
change is an ever visible force, and natural
disasters are putting all of us to the test. By
making satellite-based information more easily
available – and in the right format – we can
contribute to increased knowledge, better
preparedness and faster response. Providing this
option for our customers, on top of the same
high-quality and reliable services they can
always expect from KSAT, then we can make a
difference”, Skatteboe concludes.