By Natalie Hughes
As of this past Tuesday, Microsoft will be partnering with SpaceX to launch its Azure space initiative, the newest innovation in today’s modern day space race. The partnership is set to target commercial and government space businesses by providing new services utilizing both low orbit space crafts and traditional satellites circling the planet at higher altitudes. At a very basic level, Microsoft’s end goal is essentially to link various cloud, ground, and space capabilities. SpaceX’s Starlink, a plan to develop high speed internet connectedness everywhere around the world with thousands of satellites, makes a natural partner for Microsoft. The company has already launched over 800 Starlink satellites, yet this number is only a fraction of what is needed to provide fully comprehensive and inclusive coverage. As Microsoft expands into the space industry, its partnership with SpaceX comes shortly after the unveiling of Azure Orbital, a Microsoft managed service that connects satellites directly to the cloud. When combined, the systems will have the capability to accumulate and analyze vast amounts of data and support missions such as space-debris surveillance, missile warnings, and help control the orbiting of commercial satellites.
While Microsoft and SpaceX will be making “giant steps for mankind” with such innovation, the partnership also serves as the latest front in Microsoft’s cloud computing battle with Amazon. Unironically, the news of the Azure/Starlink alliance was released just three months after Amazon’s web service divulged its space-focused effort. It’s no secret that the two tech giants have a longstanding history of fervent competition, yet this declaration is taking the rivalry to entirely new fronts. In fact, as crazy as it seems, space is just another diversification within which the two cloud giants will be competing head-to-head. This past June, Amazon launched a new line of business focused solely on attaining space-related contracts. The big tech firm has already secured Maxar Technologies Inc. and Capella Space as clients which aid in the management of data coming from satellites.
Some analysts have predicted that total revenue from new space-related cloud initiatives such as these could total about $15 billion by the conclusion of the decade. With countless applications and advantages, Microsoft’s partnership with SpaceX alone will provide endless value to both the private and public sector. The firm is currently highly focused on governments and defense, and its space effort will even bring commercial technology to the U.S. military.