Tag: Azure Orbital
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Microsoft Azure enlists generative AI to help Pentagon look for satellite imagery
The Department of Defense envisions linking multiple ground communication systems with diverse satellite networks. (Photo via Defense Innovation Unit) Can a chatbot help Pentagon planners find the satellite data they need to understand what’s happening in a global hotspot? Microsoft Azure Space recently showed the U.S. military how an application beefed up with AI could…
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Satellite plans move ahead for Kymeta and OneWeb — and for SpaceX and T-Mobile
Kymeta’s team shows off flat-panel antennas made for OneWeb. (Kymeta Photo via Business Wire) Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp. says it has completed its first shipment of electronically steered flat-panel antennas to OneWeb for that company’s satellite-based data network. In a news release timed to coincide with the Satellite 2023 conference in Washington, D.C., Kymeta said…
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Microsoft and Amazon take on new roles in Pentagon’s space communication plans
The Pentagon is working with commercial ventures to upgrade space-based networks. (Microsoft Illustration) Microsoft Azure Space, Amazon Web Services and Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite network are now among the Pentagon’s partners in a campaign to upgrade space- and ground-based communications infrastructure for national security purposes. The Defense Innovation Unit has awarded contracts to those three…
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Microsoft Azure ramps up access to cloud computing via SpaceX’s Starlink satellites
A SpaceX Starlink satellite antenna is connected to Microsoft’s Azure Stack Edge device. (Microsoft Photo) With SpaceX’s help, Microsoft is taking the next step toward merging cloud computing with available-anywhere satellite connectivity. Today Microsoft announced the start of a private preview for Azure Orbital Cloud Access, which lets users link up with the cloud in…
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Microsoft’s Azure Space strengthens its partnerships with final-frontier pioneers
Azure Space’s partners make use of space-based as well as ground-based assets. (Microsoft Graphic) Microsoft doesn’t build rockets. It doesn’t build satellites, and it doesn’t have a launch pad. So what does Microsoft’s Azure Space business unit do? “Azure Space is about bringing cloud computing and space technologies together with a partner ecosystem,” Stephen Kitay,…
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Microsoft and Xplore team up with NOAA to demonstrate cloud-based satellite operations
An artist’s rendition shows the NOAA-18 satellite in orbit. (NOAA Illustration) What do you do with an aging weather satellite? If you’re the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, you turn to Microsoft Azure and a Seattle-area startup called Xplore to find out if there’s a cheaper way to keep it going. After a yearlong demonstration…
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Microsoft and HPE put AI to the test on International Space Station … with gloves
An image of a spacewalker’s gloves is analyzed for signs of wear using AI. (Microsoft Photo) “Check my spacewalking gloves, HAL.” The HAL 9000 computer that starred in “2001: A Space Odyssey” — and made such a mess of maintenance issues on the Discovery One spaceship — isn’t on the job on the International Space…
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Microsoft Azure widens its space ecosystem through deals with Airbus and data partners
An Airbus satellite image shows Seattle Center. (Pleiades Neo © Airbus DS 2021 / via Microsoft) One year after Microsoft expanded its Azure cloud domain to the final frontier, the company is taking another giant leap in its campaign to build a digital ecosystem for the space community. Today, Azure Space is lifting the curtain…
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Microsoft joins space industry information clearinghouse to boost cybersecurity
A series of pictures documents the construction of an Azure Orbital ground station at Microsoft’s data center in Quincy, Wash. (Microsoft Azure via YouTube) Microsoft is joining the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center as a founding member, with a mission to strengthen cybersecurity for critical space assets. “As the first hyperscale cloud service provider…
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Microsoft partners with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service for Azure Space cloud platform
Microsoft is partnering with a wide range of satellite and space companies to build its Azure Space cloud computing service. (Microsoft Illustration) Microsoft says it’s taking the next giant leap in cloud computing, in partnership with SpaceX and its Starlink broadband satellite constellation. “By partnering with leaders in the space community, we will extend the…