Ground Control Goes Cloud: The Digital Overhaul of Satellite Operations (2025–2030)
From 2025 to 2030, ground control shifts from hardware-centric architectures to cloud-enabled, software-defined infrastructure via Ground-Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS). The global satellite ground station market is projected to grow from about $56 billion in 2022 to $125 billion by 2030. AWS Ground Station and Microsoft Azure Orbital provide pay-per-use, cloud-connected antennas that deliver downlinks directly into cloud storage and analytics pipelines. Digital Intermediate Frequency (DIF) technology enables digitizing RF signals at the antenna and transporting RF over IP to cloud data centers. Digital twins are expanding into operations by 2025, with AWS Ground Station offering a digital twin environment and NASA JPL
