The State of the Ground Segment and Ground Software as a Service™

The space industry is a complex and rapidly evolving domain, where multiple factors must come together to launch a satellite successfully into orbit. Manufacturers, providers, infrastructure, partners, funding, and various other elements contribute to space missions. Often overlooked in this process is the critical aspect of “phoning home,” or communicating with satellites once they are in space.

Satellite operators with a need for ground segments face a problem. On one hand, there is a need for high upfront expenditure and expertise to build a network of ground stations at multiple locations around the world. On the other, up to a certain constellation size, those ground stations stand unused with an exception of a few daily passes. Further with the emergence of New Space, the needs of satellite operators evolved: missions became shorter, the time to operate and launch a satellite was dramatically reduced, and the budget dedicated to the ground segment decreased.