{"id":18026,"date":"2019-06-10T20:03:45","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T12:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/how-aws-ground-station-is-taking-its-giant-leap-for-satellite-links-in-small-steps\/"},"modified":"2019-06-10T20:03:45","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T12:03:45","slug":"how-aws-ground-station-is-taking-its-giant-leap-for-satellite-links-in-small-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/how-aws-ground-station-is-taking-its-giant-leap-for-satellite-links-in-small-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How AWS Ground Station is taking its giant leap for satellite links in small steps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Capella
An artist\u2019s conception shows Capella Space\u2019s radar satellite in orbit. (Capella Space Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LAS VEGAS \u2013 Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says his company has gotten so big that it has to branch out into business lines that \u201cmove the needle,\u201d like the recently revealed Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation.<\/p>\n

But Project Kuiper isn\u2019t Amazon\u2019s only potentially needle-moving satellite venture: Amazon Web Services\u2019 effort to create a network of ground stations and an easy-to-use satellite control interface is a similarly big bet for the Seattle-based company.<\/p>\n

At least that\u2019s how Shayn Hawthorne, general manager for AWS Ground Station, sees the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really believe that we\u2019re going to be a clearinghouse to provide ubiquitous communications to the world,\u201d he told GeekWire during Amazon\u2019s re:MARS conference in Las Vegas. \u201cJeff\u2019s talking about Kuiper in that context, and that\u2019s a very specific use case. That\u2019s a broadband internet provider to the world. But there\u2019s going to be a whole lot of other mission areas that we want to bring into AWS and connect to the internet and the world as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first and the biggest mission area for AWS Ground Station has to do with Earth observation. That market is mushrooming, thanks to ventures such as Planet, Spire, Capella Space and Seattle\u2019s own BlackSky geospatial intelligence venture. The potential applications include region-specific weather forecasting, crop monitoring, disaster response, urban planning and maritime and aviation tracking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that all that data is going to be as important to our customers as internet connectivity,\u201d Hawthorne said.<\/p>\n

But it takes time to move the needle: AWS Ground Station officially raised the curtain on its cloud-based satellite control system just last month \u2013 two years after Hawthorne started the job. Two ground station installations are open for business in Ohio and Oregon, in close proximity to AWS data centers, and Hawthorne says the program is on track to have 10 more stations online by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Capella Space, a startup based in San Francisco that\u2019s focusing on space-based radar observation, is already using the system to keep track of the satellite it\u2019s had in orbit since last December. And several other ventures \u2013 including Maxar Technologies, Thales Alenia Space, Myriota, Spire Global, NSLComm, D-Orbit and Open Cosmos \u2013 say they\u2019ll be working with AWS Ground Station as well.<\/p>\n

Eventually, AWS expects to drive down the cost of satellite control services by as much as 80%. But the pace of progress depends on a range of factors, including site selection and construction as well as regulatory approvals.<\/p>\n

A series of filings with the Federal Communications Commission hints at how much effort it takes to move the needle. Hawthorne said AWS and its partners are gradually working its way through the paperwork that\u2019s required for all the services it plans to provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a really big amount of things that have to be reviewed and approved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For example, Capella has been cleared to downlink telemetry from its satellite using Ground Station, but it\u2019s still waiting for uplink clearance. In the meantime, the company is using resources from other companies to fill its communication needs, Capella Space CEO Payam Banazadeh told GeekWire.<\/p>\n

At the same time that Hawthorne and his colleagues are working on getting permanent licenses, they\u2019re putting in requests for special temporary authority from the FCC to phase in satellite links. \u201cThe outside counsel\u2019s recommendation had been, \u2018Don\u2019t perturb your existing [applications for permanent] licenses while the process is ongoing,\u201d Hawthorne explained.<\/p>\n