Microsoft Azure launches space data and technology team at Lot Fourteen

The arrival of Microsoft Australia’s Azure Space team will help drive South Australia’s space-enabled digital capability.

South Australia has firmly established itself as the centre of gravity for the country’s burgeoning space sector, and now yet another global giant has touched down in Adelaide, with Microsoft launching its space data and technology team at Lot Fourteen in September this year. Azure Space will build on Microsoft’s history of successful global partnerships with industry leaders including KSAT, Viasat, SpaceX and SES, to establish new collaborations within the South Australian space ecosystem to drive innovation and develop Australia’s space-enabled digital capability – all made in SA.

Microsoft has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) to partner on Project AI Off Earth, which will explore how advanced cloud computing, artificial intelligence, computer vision and machine learning can be applied in space.

“We came to each other with a desire to work together but also to do something interesting and innovative that wasn’t being done anywhere in the world,” says Nicholas Moretti, senior program manager, Microsoft Australia Azure Space. “We wanted to apply cloud-powered innovation to the space industry on a massive scale, and ended up landing on developing and building algorithm support for platforms that aren’t destined for Earth – such as satellites or the moon or Mars bases. A lot of that can be far-fetched so we’re looking at user cases that have an impact here on Earth, on traditional industries like mining, agriculture, finance and insurance.”

Led by former US Air Force Colonel Lynn McDonald, the team’s initial project uses a tool called Azure Orbital Emulator to build virtual satellites in a digital world to understand what a satellite sees – without having to launch a physical satellite. “AIML is interested in applications with potentially tens of thousands of satellites but to launch those satellites costs a lot of money. Instead, we can launch digital satellites at a much cheaper cost in terms of money and resources,” Moretti says. “AIML can use the output of those to develop algorithms, which I think is really cool.”

Nicholas Moretti, senior program manager, Microsoft Australia Azure Space. Picture: Russell Millard

Those algorithms can then be used to support areas such as agricultural land management, water management, mining practices, emergency services and more. “We’re trying to innovate on new technologies – how do we build interesting things that enable a step change in the space industry globally,” Moretti says.

The University of Adelaide engineering graduate, who began his space career with Adelaide start-up Inovor Technologies before moving to Sydney to work for KPMG Australia, was lured back to his home state by the opportunities he sees within the space sector, both now and into the future.

“I saw this job at Microsoft pop up and it combined my experience in the Australian space industry with cloud engineering in this unique way,” he says.

“Space touches a huge amount of things that have a big impact on society and I think that will continue to grow. In fact, with all the big constellations of satellites launching into space becoming more accessible, I think that’s only going to accelerate.

“What we’re doing in Australia is definitely a committed effort and there will be opportunities here, both in the short and long terms. For me, it’s about finding and solving interesting and challenging problems that are going to have a big impact on the world. Space offers a unique problem set – you launch a satellite and at this point in time you can’t get that back so the problems are unique in that respect. It’s about pushing the boundaries of what we’re doing both in Australia and globally in the space industry as well.”