Starting in SQL Server 2016 a new service started showing up. It was the SQL Server Launchpad service. If you have ever wondered about it, I will explain what it is and why it exists. According to Microsoft Docs ( https://bit.ly/2Myg5Ph ) “ The SQL Server Launchpad is a service that manages and executes external scripts, similar to the way that the full-text indexing and query service launches a separate host for processing full-text queries. ” There, that explains everything. No? OK, to quote Inigo Montoya, “Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.” The Launchpad runs as an external service in order to handle the native capabilities of SQL to execute R or Python scripts. When you make a call to R or Python in SQL Server, it does not run internally like a T-SQL call would. Instead, it makes a call to the Launchpad service and that service runs the R or Python script. Certainly, it appe...