Satellogic, a commercial satellite operator set to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange, today announced an expansion of its partnership with Amazon Web Services Inc. that will help support its growth efforts. 

Satellogic, incorporated as Nettar Group Inc., provides Earth imagery data to customers. The startup collects data using a network of 17 compact satellites deployed in orbit. Satellogic not only operates but also designs and manufactures its satellites, a business model that the startup says allows it to provide services at an affordable price point compared with rivals. 

Earlier this year, Satellogic stated that its satellites have more than 60 times better unit economics than its closest peers in the so-called NewSpace segment. Compared with traditional technologies, the startup argues, it can provide 100 times better unit economics.

Satellogic in July announced plans to go public on the Nasdaq at a $1.1 billion valuation through a merger with a blank-check company. The listing is set to give the company a financial boost as it prepares to grow its satellite network from 17 systems to 300 by 2025. The newly expanded partnership with AWS will support the initiative.

Each Satellogic satellite collects about 50 gigabytes of data per day, which Satellogic beams to Earth with the help of the Amazon.com Inc. unit’s AWS Ground Station service. The service provides access to terrestrial antennas that can send instructions to satellites and collect sensory measurements taken in orbit. Another selling point is that, as part of the AWS cloud, AWS Ground Station makes it fairly simple for customers to send satellite data to the applications they host on the Amazon unit’s platform.

“AWS Ground Station makes it easy for us to scale acquisition processes thanks to the automation that we can achieve through its APIs,” said Alan Kharsansky, Satellogic’s vice president of mission operations. “And, on top of that, we do not have to worry about the backhauling of the data from the ground stations to our processing pipelines – AWS Ground Station delivers the data exactly where we need it. This helps Satellogic to scale, increase performance and lower costs.”

Satellogic also uses a number of other AWS services as part of its cloud deployment. The company relies on Amazon CloudWatch to monitor applications and networking infrastructure. Amazon CloudFront, a content delivery service that speeds up access to data assets, plays a role in Satellogic’s information processing workflow as well. 

“Satellogic is able to schedule satellite contacts with AWS Ground Station locations around the world and take advantage of Amazon’s low-latency, high-bandwidth global network to deliver data and make mission-critical decisions faster,” said Jim Caggy, general manager of AWS Ground Station.

Over the last few years, the cost of launching satellites has fallen significantly thanks to the efforts of SpaceX Corp. and other companies. Decreasing launch costs are helping to drive a steady increase in the number of satellites orbiting Earth. Several companies, including AWS parent Amazon, are currently working to deploy large-scale internet constellations in low Earth orbit. 

All the new satellites coming online need a way to send data to the surface and receive instructions. AWS Ground Station allows AWS to address this market opportunity.

One of the service’s main selling points is that it reduces infrastructure costs for space companies. A single antenna often isn’t sufficient to support a satellite constellation: Space companies often require an entire network of antennas to ensure data can be reliably sent to and from orbit. Building such infrastructure is not only costly but also takes a significant amount of time, which slows down a fast-moving startup’s growth roadmap. 

AWS Ground Station allows customers to rent antennas on a pay-as-go basis instead of building their own, which the Amazon.com unit says reduces costs by up to 80%. Lowering antenna-related costs allows space companies to invest more resources in other parts of their business, such as designing new satellites.

Photo: AWS