AWS Explores Industry Ties for New AWS Ground Station

A senior official at Amazon Web Services said the company is working with industry partners to promote and expand the services of the new AWS Ground Station, which gives customers the ability to download and process data from multiple satellites and during weather disturbances, Via Satellite reported.

Shayn Hawthorne, a senior manager at AWS and project head for AWS Ground Station, told the publication that the new service serves as a “game-changer” in the commercial satellite industry.

Following the Ground Station’s launch in late 2018, Amazon welcomed three companies as its initial customers.

Hawthorne said DigitalGlobe is already using AWS Ground Station for image collection, downlink and analysis.

Satellite companies BlackSky and Spire Global are currently working to incorporate the service into their products.

Hawthorne said Amazon also selected its first industry partners to expand AWS Ground Station.

The company is working with Lockheed Martin to integrate AWS Ground Station with the Verge antenna network and with Iridium Communications to develop a satellite-based network for internet of things applications.

Both partnerships aim to utilize ground antennas to simplify data retrieval and processing workflows for satellite companies and organizations.

“With AWS and AWS Ground Station, customers can get timely data sooner, rapidly experiment with new applications and deliver products to market faster without buying, leasing or maintaining complex and expensive infrastructure,” Hawthorne said.