Ground Station
Definition
Cloud service for communicating with orbiting satellites to collect and downlink data without building physical dish infrastructure.
Use Cases
- Capella Space: Downlinking synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth-observation data for rapid delivery to customers — Capella has publicly described using AWS Ground Station to schedule satellite contacts and downlink data into AWS, then processing and distributing products using AWS compute and storage services. (Faster access to downlinked data and reduced need to build and operate a global network of owned ground stations, enabling quicker scaling of operations.)
- ICEYE: Receiving SAR satellite data and moving it into cloud workflows for processing and delivery — ICEYE has publicly referenced using AWS Ground Station to bring satellite data into AWS and integrate it with cloud-based processing pipelines. (Improved operational agility by using on-demand ground-station capacity and cloud processing instead of relying solely on dedicated, self-managed ground infrastructure.)
- KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services): Providing global ground-station connectivity for Earth observation and communications missions with cloud integration — KSAT integrates with AWS Ground Station to enable customers to route downlinked data into AWS for processing and storage, combining KSAT’s ground network with cloud workflows. (Simplified data delivery into cloud environments and faster time-to-processing for customers who want cloud-native analytics and distribution.)
Provider Equivalents
- AWS: AWS Ground Station
- Azure: Azure Orbital Ground Station
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between Ground Station and satellite internet (like Starlink)?
- Ground Station is a cloud service for scheduling and operating antenna contacts with satellites (uplink/downlink) to move mission data into your systems. Satellite internet is an end-user connectivity service that provides broadband access. Ground Station is about mission operations and data acquisition; satellite internet is about providing internet connectivity to users and sites.
- When should I use Ground Station?
- Use it when you operate (or partner with) a satellite mission and need reliable, scalable downlink/uplink without building your own antenna sites. It’s especially useful if you need global coverage, want to burst capacity during peak passes, or want data to land directly in cloud storage/compute for near-real-time processing.
- How much does Ground Station cost?
- Pricing is typically based on factors like antenna time (minutes scheduled/used), the type of antenna and frequency band, and any associated data transfer and downstream cloud services (storage, compute, networking). Total cost depends heavily on contact frequency, pass duration, required locations, and how much processing you run after downlink. Check the provider’s pricing page and model costs using expected passes per day and average minutes per pass.
Category: cloud
Difficulty: advanced
Related Terms
See Also