Amazon is launching pay-as-you-go cloud computing in space
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing arm, just announced a new offering aimed at satellite operators.
The news: At its annual re:Invent conference in Las Vegas this week, the web giant unveiled a service that lets owners of satellites rent time on Amazon-managed ground stations to send and receive data from orbit. The service, called AWS Ground Station, works in much the same way as Amazon’s well-established business for tapping computing capacity via the cloud.
Ground control … According to an AWS blog post, big businesses with a large number of satellites typically build and operate their own ground stations at a cost of a million dollars or more for each one. Smaller companies that can’t afford their own often end up signing inflexible, long-term contracts with third parties that own and run such stations.
… to major flexibility: The new service will let satellite operators get access to a ground station at short notice on a pay-as-you-go basis. Those who know how much capacity they will need well in advance can book ahead and pay less for downlink time. AWS is kicking off with a pair of ground stations and says it will have a total of a dozen up and running by the middle of next year. It will monitor how demand develops before deciding how many more stations to add.
Space, the busy frontier: AWS is betting the next few years will see a proliferation of satellites in Earth orbit as companies like SpaceX prepare to launch large numbers of them and governments hatch ambitious plans for building new constellations.
Deep Dive
Computing
What’s next for the world’s fastest supercomputers
Scientists have begun running experiments on Frontier, the world’s first official exascale machine, while facilities worldwide build other machines to join the ranks.
The future of open source is still very much in flux
Free and open software have transformed the tech industry. But we still have a lot to work out to make them healthy, equitable enterprises.
The beautiful complexity of the US radio spectrum
The United States Frequency Allocation Chart shows how the nation’s precious radio frequencies are carefully shared.
How ubiquitous keyboard software puts hundreds of millions of Chinese users at risk
Third-party keyboard apps make typing in Chinese more efficient, but they can also be a privacy nightmare.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.