Cloud Computing in
Space: Heavyweights Weigh in
December 7, 2020
by Shivaprakash Muruganandham | NSR
A decade ago, cloud
computing did not enjoy the front and center
popularity that it does today in the satellite
industry. A backend concern relegated to niche
use cases, it made its presence known primarily
through customer-facing big data products and
internalized technologies that were essential
for data orchestration at scale.
In some ways, the entry of
major cloud service providers into the satellite
ecosystem was well expected. Back in 2018, Jack
Dangermond wrote about recent mapping and GIS
trends done at a whole new scale; i.e., the
geospatial cloud. This was shortly after
DigitalGlobe published a retrospective on the
company’s massive shift of archival data to the
cloud via AWS SnowMobile. Soon, the newspace
Ground Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) market
accelerated, notably with the announcement of
AWS Ground Station. There were a few other
instances of satellite operators and service
providers working alongside CSPs, such as SES
Networks’ cloud-based applications for its
mining customers, or Marlink’s digital
enablement strategy for shipping using
Microsoft’s Azure Stack.
Tools for a Transition
Since then, cloud players
have emerged as a key segment to watch out for
in the satellite business, first through direct
peering partnerships such as Azure ExpressRoute
and IBM Direct Link, and more recently, through
high profile dedicated business units as in the
case of AWS Aerospace and Satellite Solutions
and Azure Space.
NSR’s Cloud Computing via
Satellite report dove into this, identifying a
growing trend amongst satellite operators and
service providers to leverage cloud solutions,
which is a $590 million market opportunity in
2019. While nearly 50% of this is in the satcom
market, EO downlink and geospatial cloud usage
makes up the other half. The industry is now
witness to a transition both in space and on
ground towards virtualized ground stations,
software defined networks and data intensive
applications, where cloud infrastructure and
services are becoming key enablers helping the
industry expand its footprint.
The volume of data on the
cloud transported through LEO/MEO/GEO is
forecast to grow rapidly at 33% over the coming
decade, at close to 180 EB cumulatively for
commercial applications alone. This is in
contrast to much slower end-to-end lifecycles
through dedicated and siloed services in the
past, whether in satcom or earth observation.
With both incumbents (as well as other major
CSPs such as Google and IBM) being experienced
service providers to government and defense
clients as well as commercial space companies,
the latest flurry of cloud-related activity in
newspace and “traditional” space was perhaps, a
long time coming.
Moves Up and Across the
Stack
AWS GS and Microsoft’s
Azure Orbital are in a separate category when it
comes to the GSaaS landscape: neither are
established ground station operators nor are
they rooted in the classical newspace paradigm
that gave rise to startups around the world.
This is more a well-positioned lateral move of
major players in a complementary (or competing,
depending on who you ask) technology stack
(cloud via fiber/undersea cables) expanding
further into additional layers of the satellite
value chain.
Granted, the existing
coverage of the Amazon and Microsoft ground
stations are not nearly as well developed as
that of KSAT and SSC or any of the shared
infrastructure service providers. However, these
are still early days and the use case might be
shifting: co-locating ground station antennas
with existing data center infrastructure for
improved access, tighter cloud integration and
dynamic virtualized networks.
The traditional downstream
EO value chain of data providers (satellite
operators) and a highly fragmented market of
geospatial analytics firms has already expanded
to include data aggregators and marketplaces in
the mid-tier with players such as SkyWatch, UP42
etc. vying to collate and serve a variety of
EO/remote sensing data products.
A quick search for
“satellite” on the AWS marketplace and Azure
marketplace reveals a variety of products and
services from a number of companies across this
stack, as well as satcom (AIS/IoT) based data
solutions. Interesting also are the inclusion of
VNF and digitized IF satellite data transport
services from Amergint and Kratos, as well as
Kubos Corporation’s cloud-based mission control
system, an early indication of the range of
virtualized and cloud-native services currently
in development across the satellite sector.
The satcom world meanwhile,
continues to be abuzz with Non-GEO HTS
constellations, yet another major opportunity
for a cloud play. Amazon’s $10B commitment to
its Kuiper constellation places it alongside
other major non-GEOs, notably SpaceX (Starlink),
OneWeb, SES (O3b mPOWER) and Telesat.
Microsoft’s partnerships with SES and SpaceX
provides an entry point into this market for
end-to-end cloud satcom services.
The Bottom Line
While Amazon and Microsoft
have rolled out dedicated business units, IBM
has developed open-source SSA and orbital
mechanics tools. Google powers a number of
geospatial applications. A cloudification of the
satellite value chain is underway, and major
players continue to place their bets.
Hardware and software have
decoupled, and the satellite market has opened
up to competition from the wider cloud and big
data ecosystems, which is why it will be an
opportunity to watch as it makes its way deeper
in the business.