Microsoft leverages Azure Orbital with NOAA

Microsoft announced that it is working in partnership with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its partner Xplore to provide satellite mission management for NOAA’s legacy polar satellites. The goal of the initiative is to reduce operational costs with Azure Orbital Ground Station as a Service while extending the service life of the satellites.

Through a cooperative research and development agreement with NOAA, Microsoft is using Azure Orbital to connect and downlink NOAA satellites, while applying security controls. The initiative uses Xplore’s Major Tom mission control software. As a result, NOAA will be able to send commands to spacecraft and verify receipt of the commands.

Stephen Kitay, Senior Director of Azure Space wrote:

This successful demonstration shows that the Azure Orbital GSaaS, and the partner network it brings together, enables sustainable outcomes for satellite operators. Our work with NOAA is just the beginning of the journey. We look forward to partnering with additional satellite operators to help them reduce their infrastructure management costs, lower latency, increase capacity and resiliency, and empower their missions through the power of Azure Orbital GSaaS and the Azure cloud.