Embark on satellite applications using Microsoft Azure.

The shift of Microsoft Azure to a Kubernetes-based platform has introduced a fascinating capability that is evolving into a competitive advantage: Azure is now portable.

This portability is evident in Azure's edge solutions, utilizing Azure Arc and Azure Stack, enabling the deployment of containerized Azure Cognitive Services to edge hardware and the execution of serverless functions beyond the confines of the cloud. A portable cloud provides significant flexibility, supporting cloud-native development models ranging from single-board Raspberry Pi computers to global distributed systems across multiple geographical locations. Simultaneously, the scalable and portable cloud allows the utilization of consistent APIs and SDKs across various environments. While not a complete "write once, run anywhere" solution, it offers a scalable, flexible, and adaptable environment that can be orchestrated using familiar devops tools throughout the stack.

Now, Microsoft is extending Azure into space with Azure Space, encompassing a variety of tools and technologies, including portable satellite ground stations and Azure Orbital Space, a development platform for space-based applications. For developers, Azure Orbital Space is particularly intriguing. Despite being kept under tight wraps a year after its announcement, Microsoft's Orbital Space SDK for constructing satellite-agnostic applications is currently accessible only through a private preview.

Though specifics about the Orbital Space SDK are limited, insights can be gleaned from publicly available documentation and GitHub repositories. It is evident that the platform builds on the same set of Azure technologies employed in its edge platform, treating satellites as just another edge host. Consequently, transitioning existing Azure edge code to space should be a straightforward process.

Edge computing in the outer reaches of space.

Applications operate on a virtualized platform equipped with standardized interfaces for communication, data, and sensors. Development occurs in Visual Studio Code, employing familiar CI/CD pipelines and test frameworks. Once an application is developed, it can be deployed to in-orbit hardware supporting containers and Dapr, the open-source distributed application runtime. This methodology facilitates the creation and sharing of templates for common space-based applications, allowing increased data processing capabilities in satellites.

As an illustration, consider an earth-observing satellite utilizing container-hosted computer vision models to detect events like wildfires in captured images. By identifying fire locations in orbit, the satellite can transmit only pertinent images and location data to the ground, optimizing bandwidth usage compared to transmitting all imaging data for ground station processing. With Azure's AI tools and edge capabilities central to Microsoft's AI for Earth program, pre-existing applications and tools for earth resources can be strategically deployed at a minimal cost, granting developing nations access to valuable data.

This approach to onboard intelligence is propelling a new era of satellite hardware, positioned between low-cost cubesats with basic sensors reliant on ground-based analytics and larger government-operated earth resources imaging platforms. The hardware in this context is designed for on-site computation, featuring a mid-sized platform with higher resolution sensors. It can be conceptualized as an edge data center situated in space.

Leveraging Dapr for applications in the realm of space.

Another valuable feature of the Azure Orbital Space SDK is its streamlined approach to updating software in space. By employing Dapr as the deployment target, the code is tailored to a predefined set of APIs. Because Dapr operates as a container sidecar, the application container becomes the deployment unit, utilizing Dapr components as necessary. Code development and testing can occur on Earth, utilizing a local set of virtualized satellite services for validation against the APIs before transferring to the satellite's container host.

Running computations in space offers a significant advantage: cost reduction in communication. Despite the widespread availability of space communications, it remains a substantial portion of operational expenses. Microsoft characterizes the Azure Orbital Space SDK as a "compute fabric" that enables applications to run both on the ground and in space, aiming to establish a more resilient network. This underscores the benefits of building on a cloud-native platform, designed for scalability in both capacity and distribution.

Working with satellite data

Certainly, for tackling more intricate processing tasks, you can import your satellite data into the established Azure data platform and collaborate with geospatial tools and third-party GIS tools, alongside Azure's robust big data analytics tools within Microsoft Fabric. Azure Orbital Analytics offers a collection of predefined data processing pipelines, along with support for delivering data to widely used enterprise tools, including the Power Platform.

The Azure Orbital toolkit also provides mechanisms to seamlessly integrate downloaded data with GIS systems, utilizing tools such as Azure Maps to incorporate the appropriate geographic layer into your data. Employing Microsoft Fabric for data transformation enables you to process imagery within satellite applications and export it to standard GIS formats, facilitating its utilization in existing emergency service or aid applications. This approach ensures the timely delivery of earth observation and resource data to the required locations as needed.

Interacting with software-defined radio.

Another intriguing facet of Microsoft's Azure Space platform is its emphasis on communications. Beyond forming partnerships with diverse ground station and connectivity providers to seamlessly incorporate satellite communications into Microsoft's 5G private network offering, Azure Space provides tools for crafting personalized software-defined radio applications.

Leveraging established open-source tools like Fosphor and GNU Radio, the Azure software radio developer VM, based on Ubuntu, equips you with the necessary resources to construct a software-defined radio capable of seamlessly integrating with Azure services within a radio flow. This includes facilitating the delivery of RF data to Azure Event Hubs. With these tools, one can remotely manage radio hardware from the cloud and directly integrate Azure applications for downlinking data from satellite applications.

The software radio developer VM aligns with the overarching approach of the Azure Space offering, treating all facets of satellite operations as a cloud-native programming service. As Microsoft explores the integration of Linux devices into the Kubernetes environment, envisioning future management of software-defined radio hardware by containerized radio applications, both on the ground and in orbit, becomes a plausible scenario.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Microsoft's Azure Space platform not only showcases a strong focus on communications through partnerships with ground station and connectivity providers but also offers compelling tools for the development of customized software-defined radio applications. Utilizing well-established open-source tools such as Fosphor and GNU Radio within the Ubuntu-based Azure software radio developer VM, users gain the capability to build software-defined radios seamlessly integrated with Azure services. This includes the delivery of RF data to Azure Event Hubs and the potential for cloud-based control of radio hardware.

The cloud-native programming service approach of Azure Space extends to the software radio developer VM, treating satellite operations holistically. As Microsoft explores the integration of Linux devices into the Kubernetes environment, the prospect of managing future software-defined radio hardware with containerized applications, both on the ground and in orbit, emerges as an exciting possibility. Overall, Azure Space's comprehensive approach to satellite operations and communication technologies positions it as a noteworthy player in the evolving landscape of space-based services.