Tom Keane is the Corporate Vice President of Mission Engineering for Microsoft Azure. He is driving the initiative to enable developers to easily create space applications as Microsoft adds space development to its scope. With Azure, software developers can now operate at the ultimate edge of on-orbit compute, increasing the flexibility and modularity of their solutions while reducing entry barriers.
By utilizing Azure’s robust developer tools, integration with Azure services, and analytical capabilities, developers can deploy and operate space applications in orbit and on the ground. Tom Keane is the one leading all these projects at Microsoft Corporation.
New Partnerships & Capabilities for Space Development
Tom Keane and his team are dedicated to advancing space innovation by forging new partnerships and capabilities within the development community. Collaborations with organizations like NASA and HPE enable AI technology to enhance astronaut safety. Partnership with Loft Orbital, Thales Alenia Space, and Ball Aerospace has unlocked new on-orbit application development capabilities to create cutting-edge technologies. Furthermore, Microsoft empowers analysts with Blackshark.ai geospatial models and swiftly analyzes space data through the Azure Orbital reference architecture with Azure Synapse.
AI for Astronaut Safety at the Ultimate Edge
In collaboration with NASA and HPE, Tom Keane’s team is testing an AI-based system to identify damages to astronaut equipment. The system, powered by Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, uses computer vision to analyze the condition of space gloves. The AI-enabled software and hardware platform, HPE Spaceborne Computer-2, deployed on the ISS, allows for on-site and remote analysis of glove conditions, operating at the ultimate edge.
On-Orbit Partnerships for Sustainable Earth Observation
Thales Alenia Space and Microsoft have teamed to collect Earth observation data and develop sustainable on-orbit climate data processing applications. According to Tom Keane, they will use a powerful on-orbit computer, an application framework, and high-performance sensors onboard the ISS to test new technologies.