Microsoft has teamed up with satellite network services provider SES to provide Azure connectivity to enterprises in remote areas, as well as Azure-based media services for broadcasters.

As a Microsoft ExpressRoute provider, SES "will provide dedicated, private network connectivity from any vessel, airplane, enterprise, energy or government site in the world to Microsoft Azure via its unique multi-orbit satellite systems," SES said in a statement Monday.

ExpressRoute is a program where Microsoft partners with telcos and other service providers to deliver secure, private network connections to Azure customers.

Additionally, SES will provide broadcast-grade managed video services in partnership with Microsoft.

Figure 1: SpaceX Falcon9 launch, 2014

Deep dive into real-world issues and virtualization deployment challenges with industry leaders. Join Light Reading at the annual Network Virtualization & SDN Americas event in Dallas, September 17-19. Register now for this exclusive opportunity to learn from and network with industry experts. Communications service providers get in free!

Additionally, SES has chosen SpaceX, the space transportation services company founded by Elon Musk, to launch its O3b mPower Medium Earth Orbit satellites onboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral in 2021.

And SES is migrating its own customer relationship management (CRM) platform to Microsoft Dynamics.

SES operates a constellation of 70 satellites providing global data and video connectivity. While satellite connectivity has traditionally been the last-resort connection -- used where terrestrial connectivity just isn't feasible, such as in remote locations and on ships and planes in motion -- SES's ambition is to provide a better alternative to terrestrial data.

To that end, SES said in August it plans to implement the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP), enabling telcos and other service providers to manage SES network capabilities as extensions of their conventional networks, using their existing ONAP tools. We interviewed SES CEO JP Hemingway about the ONAP implementation on the Light Reading podcast.

Related posts:

— Mitch Wagner Executive Editor, Light Reading