Federal - Spire : Global Data and Analytics

Building mission success with miniaturized satellite technology

Janie Yurechko — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 23:13:45 +0000

Thinking small for big results

When you think of a satellite, you may think of a very large, high-power, fridge-sized behemoth. Traditional satellites can weigh over 1,000 kg and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to launch into space and maintain.

Because of the high costs and risk involved in developing traditional satellites, researchers at Stanford and Cal Poly in the 1990s developed another, smaller type of satellite called a CubeSat (10cm x 10cm x 10cm). At the time, the goal of CubeSats was to introduce students to hands-on space experience by developing a small satellite that they could deploy in space. Since then, NASA has organized numerous student CubeSat competitions – giving them the chance to design personal CubeSats to launch into space.

CubeSats still have utility beyond educating students about satellite design more than 20 years later. They now serve diverse industrial applications in space, including government and commercial sectors, making them the future of accessible space satellite technology. CubeSats, which are often classified as nanosatellites in terms of size (1-10kg), demonstrate that satellites do not have to be huge, expensive, and high-power to be useful. They reduce barriers and risks in space and have a variety of powerful applications utilized by governments and companies alike.

Benefits of miniaturization

One reason to use nanosatellites is that they rely on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts, making them cheaper and faster to develop and launch than large traditional satellites. Shorter development times reduce overall mission costs and allow space programs to utilize smaller budgets to test and explore new technologies, payloads, and hypotheses. CubeSat missions can also provide a lower-cost option to supplement existing space data for larger, more costly satellite missions. Furthermore, CubeSats can provide enhanced mission flexibility when launched as constellations, allowing for persistent global coverage and providing high revisit rates for a fraction of the cost of typical satellites. Experts at NASA believe that space programs can often achieve around 80% of a mission’s goals at only 20% of the cost using small satellite solutions.

One of the key differentiators of CubeSat technology is schedule benefits, enabled by shortened development timelines and flexible launch requirements. CubeSats can launch as secondary payloads on numerous types of launch vehicles with various providers – letting them catch a ride to space faster than ever before. Spire Global, for example, has sent our satellites into orbit on ten different types of rockets to date – showing just how versatile the launch capabilities are for these small satellites. Further, shortening the time it takes to develop a single satellite gives companies and space programs even more flexibility with scheduling. For companies like Spire, the timeline to construct a new nanosatellite is as short as 10 days – allowing rapid launch for new, supplemental, or replacement satellites.

Miniaturized payloads are ideal for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) applications such as geospatial surveillance and weather research. While mid to high-altitude LEO orbit is generally suitable for larger traditional satellites, nanosatellites and miniaturized payloads are far better suited for low-altitude LEO environments. Proliferated LEO – the construction of large constellations of small satellites in low earth orbit – is a strategy used to create resiliency in space missions, allowing the loss of individual satellites without entirely losing the mission. At altitudes of 600km or less, CubeSat constellations face a relatively benign radiation environment, giving them increased resiliency and allowing them to stay on orbit without deteriorating for extended periods. The low altitude LEO environment is also “self-cleaning” – a term used to describe how the higher atmospheric drag pulls spacecraft closer and closer to the earth until finally, they burn up in the atmosphere. This process eliminates the need to include a propulsion device on CubeSats, further lowering development and operation costs. Finally, the closer proximity to the earth allows for improved performance of low-SWaP sensors – enabling high-resolution imaging, improved link budgets, and lower-latency communications.

The cost of traditional satellites can easily extend to hundreds of millions of dollars. CubeSats, on the other hand, are only a fraction of the cost – ranging from as low as $50k to as high as $2M. With CubeSats offering a platform for innovation and satisfying a range of commercial, research, and government purposes, companies can de-risk satellite technology and accelerate the rate we innovate space technology and its applications.

Overall, miniaturization saves money, reduces barriers to entry, powers research & development, and enables functionality that traditional satellites cannot perform.

How small satellites are supplementing missions historically served by large satellites

Various civilian and military applications already utilize CubeSats, and the trend is likely to continue. With the continued miniaturization of technology and devices, CubeSat space missions will include increasingly powerful payloads. To understand the progression of miniaturized payloads, we look at a specific mission set that has greatly benefitted from CubeSat technology – weather forecasting.

The miniaturization of weather observation satellites

Satellites play an essential role as observation tools in monitoring the earth’s weather and climate. Global weather data collected using satellites support scientists by supplementing land-based weather observations, giving us a more comprehensive understanding of our planet’s natural systems. However, traditional weather satellites are massive, costly, and require considerable time and resources to launch into space. Because of this, gaps in observation services are often left unfilled as planning and funding for large missions unfold. In response to the unsatisfied potential for additional observation and data collection, public and private organizations have set out to create more agile, more cost-effective satellite programs to supplement existing earth observation efforts – ultimately leading to miniaturized satellites and payload technology. Organizations can launch small satellites into space much faster and cheaper than traditional satellites, allowing teams to quickly fill gaps in current weather satellite missions and continuously upgrade capability on-orbit.

The early days of weather monitoring with GEO satellites

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program (GOES), a collaborative effort between NASA and the NOAA, formally began in 1975 with the launch of the program’s first weather satellite – the GOES-1. Launched into GEO, GOES-1 weighed nearly 635 kg and operated in orbit for ten years. GOES satellites became increasingly heavy and costly throughout the program’s life as satellite capabilities, and payload technologies advanced. For context, the total cost of the last several GOES program missions has well-exceeded a billion-dollar threshold.

The image above shows the weight progression of GOES weather mission satellites from the beginning of the program’s life. As technology and satellite payload technology advanced, so did the size and weight of the satellites.

The program launched 17 GOES satellites into orbit by 2021, with the five most recent satellites still operational. GOES-T is the next satellite planned for launch in 2022, with an expected launch weight of approximately 2,800 kg.

While traditional GEO satellites are successful in large-scale earth monitoring for weather and climate data, the cost-effective LEO satellites accelerated new earth monitoring strategies and small satellite payload technologies. One crucial advantage that low earth orbit satellites have over GEO satellites is detecting temperature and moisture changes below dense cloud coverage. As LEO satellites are much closer to the earth, they can use microwave and radiofrequency (RF) instruments to analyze weather and climate more effectively. Another advantage of LEO satellites over GEO satellites is providing continuous monitoring with less risk of interruption – a particular benefit for military operations and governments in times of natural disasters.

Supporting weather missions from Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Although GOES satellites excel at collecting various types of earth surface atmospheric data, the size requirements, subsequent high costs, and long procurement and deployment timelines of the satellites led to a need for supplementary constellations that could also provide critical atmospheric data. The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) satellite constellation helped fill this gap. The program’s objective is to advance meteorology, climatology, and space-based weather monitoring with LEO satellite constellations and GPS technology. In 2006, the program launched its first satellite constellation into low earth orbit – COSMIC-1. The constellation consisted of six satellites, each weighing approximately 61 kg – bringing the total launch weight to just under 370 kg. The constellation conducted temperature, humidity, and pressure sounding – geospatially plotting a vertical profile of the variables to understand and improve weather forecasting. In total, the costs of the construction and launch of COSMIC-1 reached $100 million. After 14 years of collecting valuable atmospheric data, COSMIC decommissioned the constellation.

While the size and weight accomplishments of the COSMIC-1 constellation were undoubtedly a step in the right direction, the need for further satellite miniaturization and overall cost-reduction was evident.

In collaboration with several other space agencies and organizations, NOAA launched the COSMIC-2 constellation – building on the success of COSMIC-1. Even with the vast increase in atmospheric and ionospheric observations of the COSMIC-2 satellites, CubeSat constellations are pushing the benchmark even further. The COSMIC-2 LEO constellation collects around 6,000 ROs per day, while the Spire 3U satellite constellation has successfully collected up to 20,000 RO profiles per day. Not only do CubeSats offer the technology needed to increase observation efficiency, but they also enable persistent global coverage, including over the poles, which are not within the collection footprint of the current COSMIC constellation.

Miniaturizing weather mission payloads for CubeSat constellations

In the race to collect more advanced weather data from space, no strategy has proven more effective than reducing the costs and resources needed to launch satellites into orbit – and CubeSats are the perfect example. With less investment required to develop satellites, companies and governments can devote their money and resources to miniaturized payloads – broadly enhancing observation technology or developing technology with a more defined purpose.

Spire Global operates the world’s largest multi-purpose constellation of small satellites. The fleet currently consists of over 100+ nanosatellites, each about the size of a shoebox and weighing approximately 6 kg. The dramatic decrease in size and weight not only allows for cheaper and more standardized launch vehicle interfaces and requirements, but the cost of each satellite is orders of magnitude less than nearly all other traditional satellites. With minimal costs and launch requirements, teams can now focus their resources on developing enhanced payload technologies.

One such example of enhanced satellite technology is radio occultation (RO) payloads. Radio occultation data improve weather forecasting and climate change monitoring by creating detailed profiles of the atmosphere’s temperature, pressure, and humidity. According to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Spire’s radio occultation data was among the top five factors that reduced errors in their weather predictions. The UK Met Office also reported significant improvements in weather forecasting once they introduced Spire RO data to their network.

Spire’s constellation architecture enables global coverage, including over the poles, dramatically increasing the amount of raw, near real-time data available for weather modeling. Spire equipped the constellation with payload technology that collects over 10,000 radio occultation measurements per day and a GNSS-Reflectometry payload that gathers critical sea ice and soil moisture data. In addition to atmospheric and Earth surface information, Spire’s satellites also collect ionospheric information that feeds into space weather and space domain awareness models. With new multi-million dollar NOAA and NASA weather data contracts recently awarded to Spire Global and the aim to reach up to 100,000 radio occultations per day, Spire is on track to make groundbreaking improvements in weather prediction accuracy for organizations across the globe.

GOES-R (LM)
3,000 kg
$1.09B

COSMIC-2 (NOAA, TNSO)
300kg
$100M

LEMUR (Spire Global)
6kg
<$2M

The successes of space-based weather observation and data collection have never been so significant. And we’re doing it with smaller technology than ever before – a 6kg satellite.

As the saying goes, “Sometimes, less is more.” One way for companies and governments involved in space, aviation, and other satellite-dependent industries to reduce mission cost and risk is to rethink satellite payload size. Imagine the ability to launch and deploy a constellation, at scale, at a fraction of the cost and time required to launch a larger, more exquisite payload solution. Can you miniaturize your payload to work on a smaller form factor? We can help you.

Contact Spire Federal

The importance of global weather forecasts for U.S. Military and Civil Agency missions

Janie Yurechko — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 08:33:26 +0000

Through the advancement of technology and communication systems, easily accessible weather forecasts have become a part of our everyday lives. Today’s weather forecasting is so standard, in fact, that we don’t even need meteorologists to bring us expected weather conditions hour by hour. Instead, global weather forecasting is brought to us by way of weather models – mathematically-based weather prediction technologies that use physics to characterize the movement of air and how heat and moisture are exchanged in the atmosphere.

Through a process known as data assimilation, numerical data and physical observations are coupled to analyze atmospheric conditions globally or in a specific geographic region. The weather model assesses previous forecasts and compares them with new weather data, cataloging, compiling, and updating information as time progresses. By constantly tracking and analyzing data trends alongside previous atmospheric behavior, machine learning weather models can accurately predict current and future weather patterns based on real-time data observations.

Weather forecasting is an essential aspect of our lives. We use weather forecasts to travel safely by land, sea, and air, engineer our roads and infrastructure, prepare for natural disasters, and provide much-needed data for agricultural production. Weather forecasting also plays a pivotal role in our understanding of climate change. In the U.S. alone, the annual economic benefit of public weather forecasting is estimated to exceed $31 billion. More importantly, though, the number of lives saved using weather forecasting is substantial. Even with our current weather alert services in place, over 1.5 million weather-related road accidents occur each year, with average yearly road deaths exceeding 7,400. It’s hard to tell how much higher the death toll would rise if we didn’t have these systems in place.

Apart from public use, governments and militaries across the globe use weather forecasting to ensure public safety and plan and execute operations. While different branches of the U.S. military have different needs and applications for weather forecasting, accurate weather models are essential for each. The Air Force and the Navy rely heavily on oceanic and atmospheric forecasting, while the Army and Marines use land-based forecasting to tactically execute ground missions. Regardless of the purpose, the need for precise weather monitoring technology in military applications is evident.

How the U.S. Military relies on weather forecasting

Following the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom – a global war on terrorism targeting Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. With feet on the ground in South Asia, one of the first tasks of U.S. military forces was collecting weather data in the region. From day one, military commanders leveraged the data to launch advantageous tactical missions to overturn power and eventually topple the Taliban forces on foreign soil. The treacherous terrain and unpredictable climate of the Hindu Kush mountain range soon became advantageous to the U.S. military through advanced weather modeling – potentially saving the lives of countless U.S. soldiers.

Various civilian and federal agencies also rely heavily on weather modeling. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) plans, designs, and operates water resource infrastructure projects across the country, most of which are affected by extreme weather events. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), over $1 billion in losses resulted from 49 extreme weather events between 2010 and 2014. Much of the damage resulted from outdated infrastructure that was built before collecting sufficient data on changing weather and climate patterns. Today, federal agencies such as NOAA, USACE, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) use weather data to construct resilient infrastructure and adequately manage water resources.

While the U.S. military, federal, and civil services are constantly working to enhance weather modeling capabilities on their own, a common approach to accurate weather forecasting involves observing multiple forecasting models and integrating data into a single system.

Are free weather forecasting resources enough?

Free weather prediction services are available by the hundreds, but with significant capability differences between free and paid services, how can you know which is suitable for your needs?

Generally, a free weather modeling service is plenty sufficient to meet the needs of everyday personal use. However, business, military, and government agency operations involve human safety and supply chain efficiency, so it’s critical to have advanced weather intelligence that often can’t be met with free services. In the past, most weather forecasting services used data collected by the NOAA’s National Weather Service to generate forecast models. In recent years, however, private companies have been developing new ways to produce their own data to use in more specific applications – often better suited to a particular purpose or industry. Private businesses are now launching satellites and supercomputers into space, leveraging the opportunity to advance data collection capabilities. Further, the advancement of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cloud-based systems allow companies to analyze data in sophisticated ways, pushing the envelope for the global forecasting industry.

At Spire, we utilize a private constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites in conjunction with a network of grounded weather stations to continuously collect real-time data from every layer of the earth’s atmosphere. We help businesses reduce costs, increase revenue, and streamline supply chain efficiency by easily integrating weather forecasting services into existing workflows. Further, we provide military and government agencies the data accuracy required to carry out missions with maximum efficiency while safeguarding personnel and assets at every corner of the earth. Our services are unbounded, and we are proud to play a global role in space-based weather forecasting.

Why U.S. Arctic Strategy Needs Space Capabilities

Janie Yurechko — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 08:07:41 +0000

Climate change is humanity’s greatest generational challenge, creating obstacles for environmental and national security missions. As new trade routes emerge and great-power competition makes its way into the Arctic, accurate intelligence on sea ice, weather forecasts, and maritime tracking is critical. Spire is offering an all-in-one solution to support U.S. dominance in the Arctic from the ultimate vantage point – space.

Sea ice sets the scene

Declining levels of sea ice are an unmistakable sign of climate change’s impact on our planet. Record low levels of sea ice are leading to warming temperatures which affect sea level rise, ocean circulation, and weather patterns. Climate developments increasingly affect economies, industries, and transportation within the Arctic and around the globe, and pertinent data to help mitigate the effects of these changes is lacking. Critical missions such as search and rescue, safe marine operations, fishing, water quality, and climate change monitoring are all suffering from a lack of Polar observational data and an inability to access remote areas.

Spire is seizing the opportunity to provide more satellite coverage in the Arctic and Antarctic regions to measure the extent and height of sea ice and to monitor new waterways created by the melting ice. Over 65% of Spire’s cubesatellites are in polar orbit, offering high revisit rates in the polar region, thereby providing unprecedented vessel tracking coverage as well as highly accurate weather and climate intelligence. Spire data can provide an optimized Arctic solution to support both environmental and security interests due to the architecture of our satellite constellation and accuracy of our data.

Supporting opportunities and mitigating challenges with climate data

According to the Government Accountability Office, the Arctic holds 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil, 30% of undiscovered gas, and about $1 trillion worth of gold, zinc, nickel, and platinum. Melting sea ice is increasing usage of the Northern Sea, Northwest Passage, and Transpolar trade routes and potentially opening up new waterways to create new trade routes. Flooding and erosion have caused millions of dollars in property damage in Arctic Alaska indigenous villages, posing threats to lives, homes, and infrastructure and putting pressure on hazard mitigation efforts for federal and state agencies.

In-depth, accurate data on melting sea ice and human activity in the Arctic is critical to taking advantage of opportunities and mitigating regional challenges. However, this data is currently lacking and will continue to be elusive as Arctic monitoring satellites reach end of life.

In an open Polar Altimetry Gap Letter of Concern, over 600 scientists signed their names to address their concern over an expected lack of satellite altimetry data in the coming years. The scale and inaccessibility of the Polar Regions call for a collection of space-based observation techniques. Satellite altimetry offers a unique capability to monitor changes in the Polar Oceans and the height of land and sea ice. There are 7 satellite altimeters in orbit, but only two reach polar latitudes. CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 were launched in 2010 with a design-life of 3.5 years and 2018 with a design-life of 3 years, respectively. CryoSat-2 is projected to reach end-of-life between 2024 and 2026. The European Commission initiated the CRISTAL polar altimeter as a high priority candidate mission, but the earliest launch date is projected for Q4 2027. Considering these factors, there will be a gap of 2-5 years in our polar satellite altimetry capability.

Spire’s earth intelligence capabilities can successfully fill this gap and support efforts to study indicators of climate change and its resulting impacts in the Arctic and Antarctic regions as well as globally. Spire provides a plethora of radio occultation (RO) data in the polar regions, where the low humidity permits the collection of data all the way to the surface. This unique set of near surface temperature measurements greatly enhances Arctic and Antarctic weather forecasts.

To collect measurements for sea ice extent, classification, and altimetry, Spire utilizes a novel GNSS low grazing angle reflectometry technique (GNSS-R) using radio occultation satellites. This technique has the potential to deliver high resolution (approximately 0.5 x 8 km footprint) and fast return rate (less than 24 hours) sea ice measurements.

With various data observations including sea ice age, extent, height, and weather forecasts for temperature, wind, and other ocean variables, Spire can provide an all-in-one Arctic Intelligence solution to meet research and mission needs.

SEA ICE EXTENT

Spire Ice Detection from Grazing Angle GNSS-R in the Antarctic, data from March 2020, gridded at 5 km resolution

SEA ICE EXTENT

Spire Ice Detection from Grazing Angle GNSS-R in the Arctic, data from April 2021, gridded at 5 km resolution.

Spire’s sea ice extent measurements have the capability to distinguish sea ice from open water in order to map sea ice coverage. This also allows us to delineate the marginal ice zone (MIZ), which is a transitional region between open sea and dense drift ice.

SEA ICE CLASSIFICATION

Spire Ice Type Classification from Grazing Angle GNSS-R in the Arctic, data from March 2020, gridded at 5 km resolution.

Spire’s sea ice classification measurements allow for the categorization of ice type, i.e. age of the ice.

As climate related opportunities and challenges arise in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, abundant and accurate insights on sea ice, sea surface temperatures, and weather patterns will be critical. Spire can deliver this data with refined accuracy and abundance.

Researchers can access our unique Arctic data now. In 2020, Spire received a contract award for commercial operational earth observation data from NASA under the Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program. Through this contract, we provide GNSS-RO atmospheric profiles, space weather measurements, grazing angle reflectometry used in sea ice measurements, and more. Spire’s contract with NASA was renewed in May 2021, and this data is currently available to support environmental research efforts.

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Supporting security missions in the Arctic and Antarctic regions

The 2013 DoD Arctic Strategy lays out a framework for the United States to harmonize human and environmental security, highlighting myriad activities in the region such as resource extraction, trade, promoting safe scientific and commercial activities, and national defense, but other countries are also exploring what opportunities the changing climate may bring. Russia, for example, has developed its Northern Sea Route, which the Russian Energy Ministry promoted as comparatively more “reliable, secure, and competitive” during the Suez Canal jam.

Additionally, the United States risks falling behind other countries in regards to icebreaker ship development and deployment. As the U.S., Russia, China, Norway and Finland, among many other nations, continue to increase their presence in the region, critical Arctic data is needed to anticipate world power convergence in search of oil, natural gas, and other strategic advantages.

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu lists Heaven (the weather) and Earth (the terrain) as two of the five main considerations to achieve battle-less victory. Spire’s data can help the U.S. national security community master the weather and terrain in the Arctic and achieve national security goals while promoting U.S. superiority both in space and the Arctic. Spire’s combined weather forecasting and AIS data provide strong support for mastering the weather and terrain for security operations.

Our sea ice data measure the extent, classification, and age of sea ice, and our GNSS-R sensors measure ocean surface height, roughness, wind speed, surface water mapping, and soil freezing and thawing. Spire’s weather forecast bundle offers wind data, incredibly precise weather data for obscure locations, wave height, and maritime waves. We also provide insights on space weather, including Northern Lights, comms and navigation, and temperature.

Spire can also provide national security customers with vessel tracking capabilities in the Arctic through our high-quality satellite, terrestrial, and Dynamic™ AIS data. Spire collects AIS signals from over 200,000 vessels around the Earth and processes these signals into AIS messages to provide real-time vessel tracking data through our API.

Furthermore, Spire maintains extraordinary coverage in high traffic zones (HTZs) such as the North Sea, where the density of vessels is extremely high, and AIS coverage is notoriously lacking. We created a solution addressing the HTZ problem by adding +2,100 dynamically moving AIS receiving stations on vessels throughout all major sea routes and HTZ areas, collecting this data and updating it via communications satellites every 15 minutes. This results in an additional total volume of 10M AIS messages per day and an average 135,000 unique MMSIs per day globally.

Spire is prepared to support the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security as their Arctic presence becomes increasingly necessary, being able to provide them with masterful data that gives our warfighters greater confidence in operating in remote areas with uncertain conditions. Our polar focused constellation of CubeSats is increasing maritime intelligence in the Arctic while providing critical weather insights to support remote operations around the world.

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Accurate data means Arctic and Antarctic superiority

Spire offers comprehensive data and weather forecasting services to provide an all-in-one data solution to both civilian and military agencies to promote and protect U.S. interests in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. As great-power competition continues to ramp up in the Arctic and the region becomes more crowded, it is imperative that researchers and service members have access to the most accurate and comprehensive data available.

Spire can provide this mission critical data in real-time with a tried and tested space-to-cloud data and analytics infrastructure, leveraging small satellites to solve Earth’s biggest problems.

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Taking the Battle to Space: Detecting & Geolocating GPS Jamming Signals

Janie Yurechko — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 15:30:11 +0000

Spire has been monitoring the proliferation of space and cyber weapons as well as researching technological developments to help protect U.S. space superiority and assets. GPS jamming and spoofing is on the rise around the world, and our detection and developing geolocation capabilities can support U.S. information dominance and promote peace by helping to maintain the global balance of power with space technology.

Suspicious signals: Seek and we shall find

The prevalence of GPS jamming in conflict zones has increased dramatically in recent years, with evidence of effective jamming of U.S. aircraft in Syria, North Korea, and other countries. It is becoming increasingly important to U.S. military interests to effectively detect and locate sources of GPS jamming and spoofing to ensure warfighter safety.

Jamming happens when an intentionally produced radio frequency (RF) signal blocks a true satellite signal so the receiver no longer operates, preventing the transmission of critical data. Spoofing happens when an RF signal mimics a true signal, causing the signal to display false information. GPS technology has been vulnerable to jamming and spoofing for years due to the weak signal from GPS satellites.

The jamming and spoofing problem

GPS signals can be jammed or spoofed relatively easily and for low cost, and methods are evolving. For example, truckers across the U.S. can purchase $10 GPS jammers to prevent their employers from tracking their movements. USAF F-35s in Israeli airspace experienced jamming from an air base in Syria in 2019. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military drills consisting of 40,000 troops from all 29 member states in the Baltic Sea also experienced jamming.

The Center for Advanced Defense (C4ADS) studies analyzed automatic identification system (AIS) data and discovered that hundreds of vessels were spoofed while navigating the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Conventional spoofing can be overt (jam-then-spoof strategy in which the false signal is broadcast at a significantly higher power level than the authentic signal) or covert (the counterfeit signal is aligned with the true signal and its power level is increased to overtake the true signal). In the Shanghai spoofing incidents, GPS signals were congregated into large circles called “crop circles” that created confusion in maritime traffic.

Above: Anomalous AIS Activity Clusters Near Chinese Coast

Cutting edge technology and research for GPS jamming detection and geolocation solutions

Spire’s growing constellation of CubeSats carries flexible, software-defined radios that can be harnessed for detecting and geolocating signals of interest.

Most existing methods offer ground or wifi-based PNT solutions that are effective in preventing jamming and spoofing techniques due to the powerful signals they put out. Spire has actively researched and tested our capabilities based on a low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of nanosatellites, with recent success in detecting cooperative GPS jamming signals validated by our customers.

Spire 3U GNSS-RO satellite

The Spire GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R) instrument – used to study GNSS signals that are reflected or scattered by the Earth’s surface – is a flexible SDR receiver mated with two high-gain nadir-oriented L-band antennas that can capture both raw recordings and make precise measurements of GNSS signals emanating from the Earth’s surface. Additionally, the zenith L-band antenna is dual-frequency (L1/L2), allowing for precise positioning of Spire satellites. Consequently, variants of the Spire GNSS-R satellites are well-suited to detect and geolocate GNSS jammer sources.

Spire GNSS-R Batch 2 satellite

Spire can extend the capability of its GNSS-R payload to detect GPS jammers and leverage our LEMURs in flying formation to geolocate the emissions. Spire is actively studying and preparing to demonstrate on-orbit GPS jammer detection in multi and single satellite receiving scenarios.

A study on LEO orbit GNSS interference monitoring found that multi-satellite and single satellite interference monitoring were effective for accurately detecting and tracking GNSS signals. The multi-satellite geolocation approach involves two LEO satellites flying in parallel formation. A suite of other geolocation techniques can be readily used when there are three or more satellites. Spire is currently applying state-of-the-art hybrid time difference of arrival (TDOA) and frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) approaches to provide RF geolocation when multiple satellites have simultaneously received the signal-of-interest.

The single satellite approach uses only Doppler-based measurements to converge on an unambiguous geolocation solution. The single satellite approach is inherently more difficult, but it is a more cost-effective and infrastructure-friendly alternative to the multi-satellite approach. Spire geolocation experts have devised ways to improve accuracy and mitigate risks presented from single satellite geolocation.

A standard scenario for RF Emitter Geolocation. The red dot is the emitter while the satellite moves overhead in black. The sub-satellite path and range vectors are in cyan while the antenna footprints are also shown at time zero (black dots) and five seconds later (light green dots).

Spire’s RF geolocation expert, Dr. Patrick Ellis, published a recent paper illustrating an experimental passive geolocation solution for a single satellite to perform in single-pass, single transmission, short duration scenarios that are computationally feasible to accommodate real-time processing. The technique involves a two step RF emitter geolocation processing chain that estimates Doppler and Doppler Rate and then maps these measurements to an unknown emitter location utilizing a nonlinear filtering approach. Adaptation of this single satellite approach for geolocating GPS jammers is ongoing.

Spire successfully detects threat signals with GNSS-RO satellites

In April, and on just a few days notice, Spire successfully leveraged a multi-satellite capability demonstration for a U.S. government customer. Three GNSS radio occultation (RO) satellites were tasked to collect raw Intermediate Frequency (IF) data during active jamming tests at a location within the continental U.S. The antenna polarization and orientation of Spire’s 3U RO CubeSats proved to be suitable for detecting signals from certain GPS jammers. After initial analysis, the customer validated that Spire detected the jammer using our GNSS-RO satellites.

At least two satellite passes were aligned spatially and temporally to observe the active jammer, and the satellites were rapidly tasked to collect raw IF data. The first set of downloaded data showed a distinct increase in spectral activity in the GPS L1 band. Upon further analysis, the expected real PRN signals and evidence of false PRN broadcasts were shown. The observed Doppler of all false PRNs matched the expected Doppler characteristics of a jammer located at the designated test location. Spire concluded and the customer validated that the collected signals were, indeed, the jamming signals from the designated test location. Spire’s first GPS jamming detection test was successful.

Spire has proven our ability to detect GPS jamming signals. The next step is to successfully geolocate the point of origin utilizing the techniques discussed earlier. Spire has already launched and is operating over 40 geolocation-capable satellites providing us with an edge over other providers in this space that are still in early R&D stages. We are confident that our constellation can provide reliable, accurate, and cost-effective geolocation and interference monitoring services to the defense community.

Dominating the battlespace with CubeSats

Spire’s LEO nanosatellite constellation is poised to provide GNSS jamming detection and geolocation in terms of price, signal strength, accuracy, and coverage. Spire’s LEMUR-2 3U CubeSat bus is proven and ready.

GPS jamming and spoofing geolocation is a mission critical capability that puts adversaries on notice and encourages trust between warfighters and modern technology, especially artificial intelligence. As Spire expands our payload offerings, tests our capabilities with new use cases, and reimagines what it means to operate in space, we will focus our innovative efforts on solving the next big problem with small satellites.

Fighting wildfires with weather data

Janie Yurechko — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Blazes tore through four million acres on the United State’s West Coast last year, marking another record-breaking year for California’s wildfire activity. Five of the state’s six largest documented wildfires have occurred since last August, and seventeen of the top 20 since 2006. As a chief from the state’s department of forestry and fire protection said: “Fire season is not a season anymore—it’s year-round.”

The trend is not limited to the West Coast. Wildfires burned nearly twice as much land per year between 2000 and 2018 in the United States than between 1985 and 1999, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. And the situation could deteriorate. The non-profit established a “strong connection” between wildfires and climate change, which causes conditions to become hotter and drier. While another study found that “climate change has already facilitated conditions that are increasingly conducive to wildfire activity, and that continued global warming will continue to intensify those conditions in the future.”

As the threat of wildfires has grown, population growth has pushed communities to build houses and structures closer to high-risk territories. Catastrophic losses have followed. Since 1980, the U.S. has suffered 18 billion-dollar fires, and today some 4.5 million homes are still at extreme risk of wildfire.

Across the country, experts and incident commanders are battling to protect the public from wildfires. Weather data can support their mission.

“Weather data allows an incident commander to prioritize resources and anticipate where to deploy support in advance.”

William Cromarty
Spire Global Federal Account Executive

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Reading wildfire risks in weather forecasts

“Of the factors that affect the daily changes in fire danger, weather data is the most significant,” explains a handbook on the U.S. fire danger rating system from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.

Specialists consider air temperature, humidity, and wind speed and direction when they analyze fire danger and behavior. It is important to track temperature because a certain amount of heat is required for ignition and continued burning, according to material from Auburn University. Hotter fuel—grasses, needles, brush, and so on—also burns more readily and quickly. Wind heightens the danger of wildfires by drying out fuels and supplying oxygen to flames. And fires tend to ignite more easily and burn more intensely at lower relative humidities.

“Ask any wildland fire expert about the weather components that lead to difficult fire conditions, and the expert will reply with some combination of ‘hot, dry, and windy,’” wrote U.S. Forest Service experts and researchers in a paper.

If flames ignite, weather data can offer critical insight into a wildfire’s evolution and lifespan. Knowing wind speed and direction is particularly important, as they influence where and how far a fire might spread. Response teams also consider wind speeds at different flight levels to help plan how and when to deploy aerial assets like water bombers, helicopters, and drones.

“In the emergency management sector, resources are constrained,” said William Cromarty, a federal account executive at Spire Global with a background in emergency management. “Weather data allows an incident commander to prioritize resources and anticipate where to deploy support in advance, given you can never have 100% coverage.”

“It’s one of the few unifying threads that span the gap of tactical and longer-term strategic planning,” said Cromarty.

Space data supports land management

Wildfire management teams need to know that the weather data they use is as precise as possible. That is why we recommend using weather forecasts powered by radio occultation data. A leading weather organization recently identified it as a top-five data type for reducing errors in forecasting.

Impacts of Various Data Types on Weather Forecast Accuracy

Spire’s more than 100+ satellites use radio occultation measurements to capture detailed temperature, humidity, and pressure information across the entire planet. Taking exact measurements around the world can help improve local forecasts since weather systems connect globally. It also helps ensure that emergency management professionals and search and rescue teams can have detailed data across their operational regions.

Radio occultation measurements also generate high vertical resolution. Spire’s satellites measure conditions in thin slices of the atmosphere from sea level to the mesosphere, helping create detailed wind profiles for a range of altitudes. Furthermore, Spire also offers flight tracking information from our aviation department.

Temperature (2m AGL) and Relative Humidity (2m AGL)

ADS-B Data and Wind Speed & ADS-B Data and Weather Radar

“Spire’s data offers an incident commander the ability to not only monitor localized weather conditions on location but also track the presence of local aviation assets via ADS-B in the affected zone for added situational awareness,” said Cromarty.

Measuring moisture underground to gauge vegetation above

Alongside weather data, fuel levels are a crucial component of gauging wildfire risks. More dry grass and brush buildup means more chance of fire ignition and spread. But until recently, there has been no simple way to estimate fuel quantity across large areas, said Cromarty, especially in remote and inaccessible wilderness areas.

Now there appears to be a method. Experts can approximate vegetative ground cover through soil moisture estimations, explained Cromarty. And they can calculate soil moisture across large, even remote areas, using GNSS reflectometry, a satellite remote sensing technique that measures how GNSS signals scatter off the Earth’s surface. It is particularly adept at evaluating broad areas where it is impractical to deploy people.

Some of Spire’s satellites already collect soil moisture measurements, and coverage will expand as Spire launches more nanosatellites, promising another tool in the wildfire management toolbox.

Dry season versus wet season

“Our upcoming launches will continue to improve soil moisture readings and weather forecasting,” said Cromarty, “ensuring emergency management teams will gain increased insight and detail with every successive launch.”

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For big missions, think small (satellites)

Janie Yurechko — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 17:00:00 +0000

Three winners of the MagQuest challenge leveraged nanosatellites, demonstrating that experts trust the technology for science-grade missions. Organizations and governments looking to take operations into space can access this powerful and reliable technology through orbital services. The services are reliable, scalable, and secure.

Nanosatellites sweep the MagQuest challenge

In March 2019, the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) launched the MagQuest competition, inviting innovators to submit new ideas for collecting geomagnetic data for the World Magnetic Model (WMM). Entries could take any approach so long as they improved the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of data collection. When NGA announced the winners a little over a year later, three entries shared one essential feature: nanosatellites.

The competition’s results demonstrate just how far nanosatellites have come from their early days in the 1990s as university teaching and research tools. Today, the competition’s judges and winners—including Spire Global and SBQuantum’s joint team—trusted the compact devices to handle the demands of a science-grade mission with far-reaching national security implications.

The WMM is a representation of the Earth’s magnetic field. It’s used in essential public and military systems, including mobile navigation applications, surveying tools, antennas, solar panels, and even GPS. The model provides a key complement to GPS through magnetic navigation, which is critical since adverse space weather and ionospheric conditions can disrupt GPS signals.

With so many vital technologies relying on the model, accurate and reliable data collection is paramount. The model currently uses data collected by the European Space Agency Swarm mission, which was launched in 2013 and is expected to conclude in 2021.

For the sake of sustainability, the NGA is using the MagQuest challenges to analyze data collection alternatives for the future. If the nanosatellites prevail, then the 30-centimeter-long, 10-kilogram devices should provide comparable service as the Swarm mission’s roughly 9-meter-long, 500-kilogram satellites.

While NGA looks ahead, reliable nanosatellite infrastructure is accessible to governments and businesses now through a range of orbital services from hosted payloads and space platforms as a service, to fully tailored and purpose-built satellites and their operations. With these services, clients can fit sensing devices into commercial nanosatellites and run demanding data collection operations from space.

Working together works better

Spire is proud to have partnered with SBQuantum in the MagQuest challenge, submitting a joint entry that tied for second place. Working together demonstrated one of the primary benefits of orbital services: collaboration.

The two organizations combined their specialties, each contributing a critical component of the solution. SBQuantum brought industry-leading expertise in magnetometers, creating a novel sensor that exploits the “quantum properties of atomic impurities in synthetic diamonds,” said David Roy-Guay, the company’s CEO, in a conversation with MagQuest.

Spire contributed satellite operations and space systems engineering expertise to the partnership. First, we created a special 6U bus—six times the size of the standard 10-centimeter cube and twice the size of a standard Spire 3U satellite—to accommodate the magnetometer’s long boom. Next, the critical satellite components were tested in SBQuantum’s Canadian lab to ensure that the system was suitable for highly accurate magnetic field measurements.

Finally, we combined the satellite systems with our global ground station network and cloud-based storage and computing infrastructure to bring data down from orbit, process the measurements, and provide access to end-users through easy-to-use APIs.

“It was clear that our two teams would make solid partners for MagQuest,” said Roy-Guay. “We combine extended Concept of Operations (ConOps) expertise and a highly innovative approach to providing high-accuracy data, as required to produce the WMM.”

Bringing together both companies’ expertise provided NGA a reliable and secure solution with the benefit of rapid scalability. These three core benefits are offered to clients through Spire’s orbital services solution.

Ready today and always reliable

By hosting your payload on a proven platform, you can focus more time and resources on developing your device instead of worrying about the satellite’s infrastructure. Spire has spent the last several years building, testing, and honing our nanosatellites. We’ve built over 150+ satellites in our vertically integrated facilities and operate 100+ in orbit today. Collectively, our satellites have logged over 260 years of space flight heritage, proving to be an excellent platform for many objectives. We collect maritime and aviation data, weather variables, and even Earth information. We’re ready to add your mission to the list.

Scale up, and up, and up

We learned how to scale up operations by expanding our constellation to include over 100+ satellites. Testing and development are fast on Spire’s nanosatellites. Some can be built in just ten days, helping to cut down the overall time and cost to launch your payload. And by partnering with multiple launch partners, we offer clients more opportunities to get their devices into space.

Spire nanosatellites in production

Once in orbit, we continually update our flight software to increase performance and add capabilities. Our automated constellation operations and cloud-managed data processing further optimize performance and efficiency. Together, this can help customers enjoy regular productivity boosts without the cost of buying, building, or launching new hardware. And our network of more than 29 ground stations around the world provides frequent contact with payloads for data retrieval and any updates you might have.

Security above all else

Data security is essential for almost every aspect of government missions and company operations today. That’s why we offer end-to-end data encryption. It helps protect data pipeline security, from space to your data interface. And since we design and build our satellites in-house, we also manage a secure payload integration process.

We are excited about the outcome of the MagQuest challenge and the future nanosatellites will play in supporting the critical mission of geomagnetic data collection. One thing the competition has made clear today, however, is that nanosatellite platforms pack the performance to take on your ambitious missions.

How small satellites forge a new path for government space operations

Janie Yurechko — Wed, 20 May 2020 08:00:00 +0000

The CubeSat has come a long way from its early days as a university experiment. Orbital services on these platforms provide governments and contractors a quick, affordable, and secure route to expand satellite operations, with all the added benefits of public-private partnerships.

From classroom lessons to real-world applications

Professors from two universities in California put forward an idea for a satellite in the late 1990s that helped revolutionize the space industry. They designed a tiny device that students could engineer and personalize first-hand without stratospheric costs, according to Space.com. The resulting CubeSat, a four-inch cube weighing about three pounds, suddenly made space more accessible.

Spire Global’s founders recognized the potential of CubeSats. They built and launched their own device to teach students about space, and along the way, captured the attention of an industry that was starting to embrace this new technology.

Since then, CubeSats have been tested, refined, and standardized, collectively logging countless orbital operations. They are now used in a myriad of forms, performing critical public and commercial services. The technology has proved particularly successful in remote sensing applications, including advanced radiofrequency sensing, traditional electro-optical and infrared imagery, and space-based radar. It’s the veritable Swiss army knife of space.

With little doubt left about CubeSat’s vast capabilities, the devices now serve as reliable and low-cost platforms for hosted payloads. These orbital services invite clients to fit their own sensing devices into commercial CubeSats, like customizing a multitool with a specialized selection of instruments.

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Spire’s Orbital Service is designed to accommodate new customer payloads quickly and efficiently allowing for an incredibly fast rollout of new capabilities.

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An opportunity for governments and institutions

Today, experts agree that small satellites are well equipped to help support the United States federal government’s missions in space. A Center for a New American Security study found: “Now is an appropriate time for the U.S. military and intelligence community to at least modestly increase their investment in small satellite capabilities—both as a hedge and to create options.”

Historically, the federal government has relied on large, complex, and costly satellites that can take years to develop, build, and launch. Meanwhile, the space sector is experiencing an influx of new actors, both commercial companies and state-run organizations. Space is moving fast; the clock is ticking.

“We are the best in the world at space today, [but] our level of superiority is diminishing,” said General John W. Raymond, the head of the U.S. Space Force, according to Foreign Policy.

Hosted payloads on CubeSat platforms offer a highly secure way to achieve rapid innovation. The Government Accountability Office recently found that “using commercial satellites to host government sensors or communications packages—called payloads—may be one way [the Department of Defence] can achieve on-orbit capability faster and more affordably.”

With orbital services, getting critical technology into orbit can be fast and cost-effective, and has the added advantages of operational security and a ready route to expansion. The main benefits include:

Rapid testing on a reliable platform

As mentioned earlier, the CubeSat platform has been honed over many years and across applications. Its proven performance and reliability helps ensure you only need to focus on designing and testing your payload, without having to worry about the surrounding technology.

Better yet, you can iterate and test more rapidly with smaller satellites. At Spire, we can build our CubeSats in just ten days, cutting down the overall timeline from design to launch to just six months. And once in space, CubeSats can be continuously updated to enhance their operational software and data processing capabilities.

“New technologies may be continually incorporated into space systems using hosted payloads,” said the GAO.

Safety in numbers

Nothing is more important than resilience and security. Hosting mission-critical payloads over a constellation of satellites supports operational safety.

“A target set composed of a large number of small satellites will be harder to disable or disrupt than one composed of a small number of large satellites,” according to the CNAS.

Furthermore, Spire’s Orbital Services offerings include built-in, end-to-end data encryption. This adds a layer of protection, from satellites down to customers, that complements their native data security systems. And since we design and build our satellites in-house, we also manage secure payload integration.

A small way to cut big costs

Depending on large satellites to continuously advance payload capabilities can come at a cost—a high one. Traditional development schedules can be expensive and take years, and should something go wrong, replacing devices might call for another costly round of production. Hosted payloads on CubeSats can be a more affordable alternative.

With our cutting-edge CubeSat technology and rapid manufacturing process, Spire can offer government customers an inexpensive hosted payload solution. This helps ensure expanding operations and upgrading technology stays affordable, and rapid replenishment is economically viable. They are light in weight, and on your budget sheet.

“Some government agencies have reported saving hundreds of millions of dollars to date from using innovative arrangements such as hosted payloads,” said the GAO.

Your mission partner

When it comes to hosted payloads, Spire isn’t just a service provider. We are a partner. The relationship offers more opportunities to interact, collaborate, and create secure, reliable, and effective solutions. As Aerospace explains, public-private partnerships “can demonstrate significant advantages such as improving delivery schedules, quality of service, and innovation.”

National security solutions provider, KeyW, for example, partnered with Spire to operationalize its cutting-edge technology through hosted payloads. “By leveraging Spire’s reliable, proven and cost-effective capability, KeyW intends to demonstrate our speed and innovation,” said Bill Weber, the company’s chief executive officer.

Spire is also participating in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s MagQuest challenge to develop innovative solutions for measuring geomagnetic data. We are proposing a modified version of our CubeSat to collect geomagnetic data at a precision and temporal frequency not previously available on such a small and cost-effective platform. The novel design will be supported by our ground stations, cloud-based processing, and data distribution network.

Our partnerships also extend to multinational institutions like the European Space Agency. We are a partner to its Pioneer program, which encourages the development of new technology and its demonstration in orbit.

Beyond hosted payloads, Spire also offers our partners tailored data services. We contribute maritime, aviation, and weather data to ESA’s Earth Online. We work closely with our partners on collaborative scientific development, especially in GNSS-based radio occultation and reflectometry, two capabilities that complement other remote sensing techniques.

With both hosted payloads and data solutions, a partnership with Spire can look forward to rapid success and long-term progress. We’re an ally for the digital age.

Build A Satellite For Your Organization

The production, launch and operations infrastructure is already established and commercially proven. All that is needed is your vision.

WASHINGTON DC

Spire’s newest office is located at the heart of the satellite revolution. Our DC location is home to the Spire Federal and legal teams, made up of dedicated, mission-oriented individuals working diligently to address national security concerns. The Spire Federal office is surrounded by a fast-moving culture that boasts great restaurants, high tech companies, and all types of personalities. Here in our nation’s capital, a LEMUR can fit right in!

8000 Towers Crescent Drive, Suite 1225
Vienna, Virginia 22182
United States of America

5 ways Spire solves US government mission challenges

Keith Johnson — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 09:57:41 +0000

At Spire, we work with a range of customers to develop and deliver problem-solving data sets. Our customers use our data to develop business strategies, optimize logistics, and streamline operations. Spire works with more than just aviation, weather, and maritime customers. We frequently customize data sets to help government and federal agencies oversee vessels, monitor global environmental factors including denied areas, and track illicit activities, like illegal fishing and drug trafficking. Spire Federal provides mission-critical situational awareness while reducing the total cost of ownership for our customers.

Providing Enhanced Visibility in Data Deserts

Our AIS-based maritime solutions increase global maritime domain awareness, enable coastline policing, and provide greater visibility of the poles. Our cloud-based data distribution service combines satellite and terrestrial streaming data and helps our customers model the probability of a satellite AIS collection over a wide variety of geographic locations around the globe. The tool uses input from the constellation geometry, individual satellite performance, the tasking and operations schedules, vessel and AIS transmission densities for geographic regions and time, and AIS transceiver power classes. Our maritime service, Enhanced Satellite AIS closed the gaps in AIS data coverage in High Traffic Zones (HTZ). Gaps in data cause lost ships, increase the difficulty in scheduling port arrivals, and have a major impact on fuel consumption models.

Ensuring the Safest Routes

As the Arctic maritime security environment continues to evolve, Spire is working on solutions to provide our customers with a strategic advantage in the region. We received funding from a Department of Defense customer to develop a WAASP dashboard, which displays real-time AIS and Spire STRATOS weather data. WAASP is currently used by various DoD customers to predict likely shipping routes up to eight hours into the future while taking into account the impact of severe weather events.

We Take Pride in Keeping People Safe

Spire supports the Federal Aviation Administration’s airspace traffic management mission through the continuous tracking of aircraft around the globe. Our aviation solutions ensure the safe delivery of personnel and resources through military transport aircraft tracking. Safe operations that are fully optimized to deliver greater revenue and efficiencies are just some of the outcomes our customers achieve with our space-based data solutions.

Staying Ahead of the Trends in Airspace

Spire provides the Naval Postgraduate School with historical ADS-B data to monitor aircraft trends in the Western North Pacific airspace region. Additionally, Spire’s enhanced aircraft data access (e.g., callsign, speed over ground, latitude and longitude, aircraft status, etc.) allowed NPS to track historical aircraft movements and run trend analyses across a variety of different criteria.

Planning Accuracy in an Uncertain World

The Spire team has been working diligently to produce more than 7,000 radio occultations each day, with plans to scale beyond 100,000 daily observations to massively impact weather forecasting skill. Weather model assimilation of RO improves daily, weekly, and monthly weather forecast accuracy around the globe. Spire’s RO profiles are used by NOAA, NASA, and USAF to greatly increase the accuracy of their numerical weather prediction models. Our GNSS-based total electron content (TEC), amplitude (S4), and phase scintillation observations provide early indicators of significant space weather events that have an impact on the military’s ability to leverage its critical communications and navigations assets. Our GNSS-Reflectometry data enables the collection of soil moisture, floods/wetlands, ocean winds, and sea ice information, aiding in the forecasting and monitoring required by NASA and NOAA.

Through NOAA’s Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP), Spire provided a total of ~900 RO profiles to be ingested in NOAA’s Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model. Over the course of the data pilot, NOAA analysis highlighted the positive impact assimilation of Spire RO and ionosphere data had on model forecasting accuracy. Via our Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with NASA, Spire provided science data, including radio occultations and total electron content data, that directly relate or lead to NASA’s Essential Climate Variables. Our ultimate end-use solution included a comprehensive catalog of data solutions consistent with the 50 GCOS Essential Climate Variables (ECV).

Our Progress Always Brings Us Back to Our Satellites

We take pride in building, owning, and operating our nanosatellites. Through our orbital services offering, we offer customers the ability to host payloads at a much lower cost than traditional space-based tracking. Costs passed on to our customers are lower due to our use of cutting-edge nanosatellite technology and rapid manufacturing processes. If you’re looking to design and launch a satellite in just six months, we can meet your deadlines and provide opportunities to scale up production and deliver full satellite constellations to orbit. Spire guarantees data pipeline security and a controlled and efficient payload integration process while enabling customers to track any signal source of interest.

We Host Payloads

Spire works with various federal customers to host their payloads on our LEMUR 3U CubeSats. We were recently selected by Key to host 2 KeyW ISR payloads on our LEMUR 3U CubeSats. This effort is focused on rapidly validating several of KeyW’s next-gen Innovative Space technologies on-orbit. In addition, NGA selected a Spire 6U Cube-Satellite design for geomagnetic data collection in support of the deployment of the Worldwide Magnetic Model (WMM).

Bring Us Your Mission Challenges

We’re always interested in new challenges. Contact us and let us know what challenges you’re looking to solve and we will respond within 24-hours. We’re a growing company and we just opened our office in Washington DC so we can better serve our clients there. Our data has many uses across multiple domains and mission sets, and we specialize in creating customized data sets that provide you with the information you need to improve your operations.