ATLAS Space Operations

The ever-growing demand for new and efficient satellite communication services has pushed the industry into a constant state of flux. From companies having to buy and manage ground stations to using software-driven solutions to gather data from different networks, the satellite communication arena has evolved by leaps and bounds.

ATLAS Space Operations is spearheading the innovation in this industry with its Ground Software as a Service. Taking a revolutionary approach to satellite communications, it offers Freedom Software Platform, it’s proprietary global ground network management system that serves as an intuitive solution to many sectors that leverage satellite communications, including earth observation and wildlife tracking.

As a cloud-based, software-only platform, Freedom simplifies the legacy, complex, and manual satellite communication and network management operations. Until now, clients had to purchase, install, and manage ground station equipment to communicate with their satellites. They also had to ensure streamlined data delivery into the cloud. This resulted in significant capital outlay for clients as they would only use between fifteen to twenty percent of time on the antenna they owned.

Changing the status quo, ATLAS leverages the robust technical capabilities of Freedom to make the ground station network agnostic, allowing it to work across various configurations and setups. Partnering with Viasat Real-Time Earth and Amazon Web Services, it has integrated Freedom with their ground site locations.

This allows clients who want to use any of AWS or Viasat locations to collect data from their satellite to easily do so at a lower latency. Through a single API, clients can instantly use the platform and access their satellite data.

As the global federated antenna network integrated with Freedom grows, new antennas are instantly made available to clients. With a user-friendly interface, the platform provides a single point of access to any ground station asset, allowing for seamless transfer of data to the cloud. It normalizes all hardware differences and simplifies network engineering for clients. Prioritizing client data security, ATLAS, a NIST 18171 third-partytested solution provider, offers a level of data security on par with government providers. The company aspires to meet FedRAMP Moderate security standards in the near future.

“We help clients design the solution that works for them and teach them how to integrate with our system in a way that makes it quick and painless for all of us,” says Brad Bode, CTO of ATLAS Space Operations.

To deliver measurable results, ATLAS monitors hardware across its network with every satellite pass. It uses a tool, Task Insight, within Freedom to provide clients with actionable information to examine the details of the satellite link, from the antenna to the cloud. The data is analyzed, and a report with comprehensive metrics based on success and failure warnings is provided.

ATLAS provides mission assurance through its state-of-art Copilot tool. It allows clients to take risks in a test environment to ensure successful communication during the real satellite launch. ATLAS separates its test network from the production network to enable clients to experiment with various scenarios and assess risks without material consequences. Clients can easily perform all the testing on the ground before launching a satellite into orbit.

At the heart of ATLAS’s success is a commitment to customercentricity and white-glove service. It leverages a flexible scheduling system, helping clients who need to make short-notice reservations for a time slot on the antenna. Unlike the majority of providers, who have a lockout period in their contracts for any changes in the client’s schedule, ATLAS supports an openended concept of operation to allow for real-time changes and unmatched flexibility, scheduling without late cancelation fees. It guarantees the reserved time on its ground stations and ensures 90 to 99 percent uptime.

In an engagement with a client that was not satisfied with its previous provider, ATLAS performed the testing on the ground and helped them successfully launch their satellite in just four weeks—an unprecedentedly short period.

“Rather than promising and underdelivering, we overdeliver. We are highly reliable and always exceed industry expectations,” says Bode.