Get started with Azure Orbital Ground Station

Azure Orbital Ground Station can be used to communicate with a private satellite or a selection of public satellites.

Learn about Azure Orbital Ground Station resources

Azure Orbital Ground Station uses three types of Azure resources:

You need to create each of these resources before you can successfully contact your satellite.

A spacecraft resource is a representation of your satellite in Azure and stores links, ephemeris, and licensing information. A contact profile resource stores pass requirements such as links, channels, and network endpoint details.

Contacts are scheduled at a designated time for a particular combination of a spacecraft and contact profile. When you schedule a contact for a spacecraft, a contact resource is created under your spacecraft resource in your resource group.

Register a spacecraft

Register a spacecraft resource to add it to your subscription. This process includes creating the spacecraft resource and requesting authorization to use this spacecraft according to the spacecraft and ground station licenses.

Note

Before spacecraft resources can be created and authorized for private satellites, proper regulatory licenses for both satellites and relevant ground stations must be obtained.

Configure a contact profile

Configure a contact profile resource for your spacecraft to store details such as channels, links, and endpoint details.

Schedule a contact

Schedule a contact for a particular spacecraft and contact profile.