Satellite communications is by far the largest segment in terms of data traffic via satellite. Despite major developments in the Earth Observation industry in recent years, data traffic for point-to-point communications via the satellite bent pipe continues to grow rapidly. The cloud is expected to play an increasingly important role across several segments in the.
In a day and age where every part of the enterprise and government services operations is moving to the era of digitalization, the appearance of software as a dominant driver of changes is making more sense every day. And with this dominance comes new business models that are making their way even into the space.
A surge of NewSpace startups and traditional companies alike have leveraged cloud services to reduce lead time and grow revenues across the space industry. According to NSR’s Cloud Computing via Satellite, 2nd Edition report, Communications and Earth Observation are identified as the biggest opportunities in this market. Together they account for $18B of the projected.
Delving further into [their] report, NSR explained that the cloud is a key driver of a new wave of space and satellite innovation. “Cloud will be a critical component that ensures satellite players remain competitive,” NSR added. “Cloud is a means to ensure data delivery in big data applications – this is true from satcom.
NSR said this deal validates the ongoing relationship that Google has with SpaceX, as it has invested in the company in the past. Also, SpaceX’s partnerships with both Google Cloud and Microsoft demonstrate a hybrid, multi-cloud approach from the satellite operator, looking to make its Starlink system interoperable with different systems.