MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Gaining access to AWS Ground Stations is enabling Atlas Space Operations to dramatically expand its network, Brad Bode Atlas chief technology officer and co-founder told SpaceNews.
Atlas, a ground software as a service company based in Michigan, is gaining access to 11 ground antennas sites through the AWS Solution Provider Program. Atlas already operates 15 ground stations around the world.
Atlas joined the AWS Solution Provider Program after an extensive review process.
“They looked at our architecture, validated it and gave us the thumbs up to resell their product,” Bode said Feb. 8 at the SmallSat Symposium here.
For Atlas customers, the additional antennas will provide flexibility, Bode said. “When you realize that another ground station would be a better solution or you launch more satellites and need more services, you can expand easily because it’s all behind one single software interface,” he added.
Atlas provides customers with ground services through its Freedom software, which offers updates on satellite operations and scheduling for communications passes as well as providing access for telemetry, tracking and command.
AWS entered the ground station business in 2018 with a focus on helping Earth-observation constellations move data directly from satellites into the AWS cloud for processing and storage.