Microsoft And Intelsat Combine Space And Cloud To Deliver Seamless 5G Networks Virtually Anywhere – Forbes

Microsoft is working with partners to develop innovative solutions and democratize access to space. ... [+] (Photo by Heritage Space/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Space. I dont know if its the final frontier, but it is a very compelling one for sure. While billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sir Richard Branson capture headlines and imaginations as they strive to modernize and commercialize space travel, hundreds of lesser-known companies around the world are pursuing projects to explore and leverage space for a wider range of objectives. Microsoft is not pursuing its own agenda for space exploration, but the company has its sights set on being the platform and ecosystem of choice for organizations engaging in space missions through Azure Space.

Microsofts effort with Intelsat is one example. Commerce is increasingly global and organizations need to stay connected. In developed nations and populated areas, that is generally not a problem, but much of the world still lacks network infrastructure. Intelsat recently demonstrated the ability to deploy a secure, high-performance private LTE and 5G network by combining Intelsats network of satellites and Microsofts Azure cloud platform.

A blog post from Intelsat explains, Via the private cellular network, users can access local enterprise resources via SIM-authenticated connections to the Azure Stack Edge and access remote resources through the FlexEnterprise connection, the IntelsatOne global network, and Azure.

I spoke with Jean-Philippe Gillet, SVP Global Sales Media, and Networks for Intelsat, about the collaboration with Microsoft. He told me that combining satellite communications with Microsoft Azure allows them to provide enterprise customers anywhere in the world with fast, reliable, and cost-effective network connectivity.

Gillet said that Intelsat satellites deliver global coverageincluding both land and sea. He shared that not only can customers provide access to applications and network resources from remote sites and offices, but this solution also enables seamless networking with moving fleetslike trucks or shipsto allow access and connectivity for communications, telemetry tracking, and other applications and analysis on the go.

As impressive as that is, it is just one facet of what Microsoft is doing to enable companies to leverage and benefit from space. Microsoft wants Azure Space to be the platform and ecosystem of choice for the mission needs of companies venturing into space or customers that want to take advantage of unique perspectives and data from space.

I spent some time a few months ago with Steve Kitay, Senior Director of Azure Space at Microsoft. He talked about how space exploration historically has been driven by government and scientific objectives, but we are now in a new era where commercial interests and commercial innovation are lowering the barrier to entry and expanding opportunities.

Kitay came to Microsoft from a career in the government sectorfilling positions from active-duty military service to Capitol Hill and working for Congress. Prior to joining Microsoft, he worked in the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for space policy.

There's tremendous investment going into space right now, proclaimed Kitay. Because I think that companies recognize the importance of this domain and really the opportunity that presents itself. So, Microsoft did as well and you know, our mission is to empower our customers to achieve more.

Edge computing is already a thing, but Microsoft is taking that to an extreme. For Microsoft Azure, the edge is outer space.

Kitay clarified that Microsoft is not jumping in to compete with SpaceX or Blue Origin. Microsoft does not even have plans to build or launch its own satellites. He explained that Microsoft views its role as partnering with others to facilitate and enable innovation. Essentially, Microsoft is focused on streamlining and accelerating value for commercial innovation in space.

Azure Space works with startups, midsize companies, and established players that are reinventing themselves and developing new technologies by bringing Microsoft technology into the equation to accomplish two things. One is to help space operators and space developers innovate much faster, said Kitay. And then the second area we're working on is how do we democratize space, or make space more accessible to more people in more industries?

He told me that Microsoft is expanding on its already-impressive ground infrastructure to be able to connect customers anywhere on the globe to the cloudto enable customers to bring geospatial data and analytics into the cloud to then perform artificial intelligence. Ultimately, we bring through enterprise capabilities to support different industries and objectives, whether it's agriculture, sustainability, emissions, government, weather. That gets to the issue of how we make space capabilities more accessible to these industries, and that's where Microsoft provides a great platform because we have these enterprise capabilities already and are already servicing these customers.

I also had a conversation with Tom Keane, Corporate Vice President of Azure at Microsoft, about why Microsoft is investing in this area and how space fits into the broader cloud journey.

We're trying to combine what we've been doing in Azure with our cloud as well as with the rest of the Microsoft Cloud with the potential of space and we sort of distill our strategy down into a multi-orbit, multi-vendor, multi-frequency approach, explained Keane. And really what that's about is bringing data from satellites and different orbits and insights into our cloud and to use our cloud to transform industries and create new paradigms.

Keane told me about Azure Orbitalan effort by Microsoft to expand beyond its own ground stations and integrate third-party ground stations natively into Azure as well. In addition, Microsoft has engaged in a variety of key partnerships to democratize access to space to reduce cost, accelerate time to market, and enable important research.

For example, Microsoft Research has developed methods for removing cloud cover from satellite images. Keane told me, When you look at satellite images, often two-thirds of them have cloud cover, making them much harder to use and SpaceEye and some of the work that we've been doing with Planetary Computer are about removing clouds through AI and completing that picture to give you more usable images.

Keane stated, What technology is ultimately doing is democratizing access. In our strategy to partner, were bringing together a whole bunch of capabilities, and then we're also building tools for space developers, so that you can write applications and make use of space infrastructure, and even emulate and simulate that infrastructure before you go on orbit.

We talked about using geospatial data to understand ocean and weather patterns. Microsoft was able to demonstrate the use of satellite technology to monitor large-scale bodies of water over time to see how global warming is affecting and changing them. One example is the ability to analyze the level of a lake over a 10-year period using geospatial data.

That data is interesting for sustainability reasons. It's interesting for insurance companies. It's interesting for supply chain monitoring and tracking. The possibilities are pretty endless. And weve got customers across a whole variety of industries that are really interested in leveraging it, shared Keane.

We are still at a very early stage when it comes to space, and we have barely begun to even scratch the surface of what is possible when it comes to commercial innovation. Partnerships like the one between Microsoft and Intelsat demonstrate what can be achieved when companies collaborate to push the envelope. Microsoft seems very focused on driving innovation and democratizing access to space for companies of all sizes around the world.

View original post here:

Microsoft And Intelsat Combine Space And Cloud To Deliver Seamless 5G Networks Virtually Anywhere - Forbes