TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Amazon launches cloud service for satellite data

In collaboration with global aerospace company Lockheed Martin, AWS will integrate its network of ground station services with the former's new antenna network to give customers the ability to download data from multiple satellites at the same time.

M. Taufiqurrahman (The Jakarta Post)
Las Vegas, United States
Wed, November 28, 2018

Share This Article

Change Size

Amazon launches cloud service for satellite data A handout photo obtained from the European Space Agency shows a composite of images of the Sentinel-3 satellite, which is arguably the most comprehensive of all the Sentinel missions for Europe's Copernicus program. Carrying a suite of state-of-the-art instruments, it provides systematic measurements of Earth's oceans, land, ice and atmosphere to monitor and understand large-scale global dynamics and provide critical information for ocean and weather forecasting. European satellite Sentinel-3B was launched from Russia on April 25. (AFP/ European Space Agency)

A

mazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of e-commerce giant Amazon, launched on Tuesday, offering a new service that will make it easier for satellite operators to get data to and from orbiting satellites.

In collaboration with global aerospace company Lockheed Martin, AWS will integrate its network of ground station services with the former's new antenna network to give customers the ability to download data from multiple satellites at the same time.

With the service, users can continue downloading data from satellites even during unplanned outages from weather-related events. Satellite operators use ground stations to send data back and forth into orbit and require a specialized array of antennas, computing infrastructure and networks.

"This is the world's first fully-managed ground station as a service," AWS CEO Andy Jassy told a press briefing at the AWS event in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

AWS will kick off the new service by opening its first two ground stations this week. AWS plans to have 12 stations in operation by the middle of 2019.

Executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Rick Ambrose said that his company would develop a network of low-cost ground-based antennas that could help deliver the new service.

The new antennas, known as virtual resilience ground (Verge), will help capture satellite data and connect into the AWS network.

Chief technical officer of commercial vendor of space imagery DigitalGlobe Walter Scott said the new system would make it easy for startup firms to get crucial information that could help their businesses.

"With this new system, the image will be crystal clear and this will be crucial for application in autonomous vehicles," Scott said.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.