Microsoft Corp. announced today at Inspire 2022 that its Azure Space portfolio of cloud products has evolved to become a full-fledged community of partners, with members gaining access to multiple benefits.

Launched in October 2020, Azure Space is a suite of cloud-based products aimed at customers in the space sector. It’s centered around Microsoft’s Azure Orbital service, which provides satellite operators with terrestrial antennas, or ground stations that enable them to communicate with their space-faring craft.

Azure Space has since grown to encompass an extensive range of solutions aimed at addressing some of the toughest technology challenges in space, such as providing connectivity to remote areas and dealing with the vast amounts of data generated by satellites.

In a blog post, Microsoft Senior Director of Azure Space Stephen Kitay said that through the offering, the company has established meaningful partnerships across the space industry, including space operators, systems integrators, data providers and more. These partners provide various capabilities that are in high demand from companies working in space, with ground infrastructure, earth observation, virtualization and data processing being some of the most vital.

Kitay said Microsoft believes the time is right for this ecosystem to evolve into an official and mutually beneficial community of partners. As part of the community, companies will benefit from Microsoft’s support in areas such as co-engineering and go-to-market strategy.

For instance, members of the Azure Space Partner Community will gain direct access to Microsoft’s engineering resources, he said. They can participate in Azure Space training to stay up to date with the latest technologies it offers, collaborate with Microsoft’s engineering and sales teams on proof of concepts, and access quarterly Azure Space roadmap reviews and newsletters. Of course, they will gain the ability to influence that roadmap too. Partner’s offerings may also be highlighted in reference architectures and training programs, and they will gain priority access to early adopter and private preview programs, Kitay added.

The Azure Space Partner Community will further benefit from go-to-market scale and support, with benefits such as first-party product integration in offerings such as Microsoft Teams and Power BI. On the marketing side, Microsoft said, there will be opportunities for partners to be showcased in customer presentations and sales training, and take part in space and spectrum-focused Microsoft events such as Inspire and Build.

Initial Microsoft Azure Space Partner members include firms such as Airbus SE, Amergint Technologies Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., Intelsat S.A., Omnispace LLC, Thales Alenia Space and Viasat Inc.

Image: Microsoft