In what it’s calling “a first-of-its-kind space experiment,” Amazon’s cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS) successfully ran a machine-learning software suite on a satellite in orbit. The experiment, conducted over the past 10 months in low Earth orbit, was designed to test a faster, more efficient method for customers to collect and analyze valuable space data directly on their orbiting satellites using the cloud.
Providing AWS edge capabilities onboard an orbiting satellite for the first time lets customers automatically analyze massive volumes of raw satellite data in orbit and only downlink the most useful images for storage and further analysis, driving down cost and enabling timely decision making. AWS worked with its global space partners D-Orbit and Unibap to conduct the demonstration.
“Using AWS software to perform real-time data analysis onboard an orbiting satellite and delivering that analysis directly to decision makers via the cloud, is a definite shift in existing approaches to space data management,” said Max Peterson, AWS vice president, worldwide public sector. “It also helps push the boundaries of what we believe is possible for satellite operations.”
Peterson added: “Providing powerful and secure cloud capability in space gives satellite operators the ability to communicate more efficiently with their spacecraft and deliver updated commands using AWS tools they’re familiar with.”
Investors looking to get exposure to Amazon while also making their portfolios adhere to environmental, social, and governance standards may want to give the Xtrackers S&P 500 Growth ESG ETF (SNPG) a look.
Launched earlier this month, SNPG seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performances, before fees and expenses, of the S&P 500 Growth ESG Index, a broad-based, market capitalization-weighted index that provides exposure to companies with high ESG performance relative to their sector peers, while maintaining a similar overall industry group weight as the S&P 500 Growth Index.
Amazon had a weighting of 6.87% in the fund as of Nov. 28.
“DWS has continued to build out an ESG presence offering a sustainable alternative to popular S&P Dow Jones Index-based products,” said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi. “We have seen strong demand for SNPE, but now advisors can tilt toward growth, value, or dividends too.”
The fund uses ESG filtering in addition to its investment style focus and has an expense ratio of 0.15%.
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