Spire Global’s Spire Global Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder (HyMS) being integrated with a Spire satellite. Credit: Spire Global
SALT LAKE CITY – Spire Global won a $28 million NASA contract to build and flight qualify a satellite and hyperspectral microwave sounder for operational weather forecasting.
The system will be designed to support National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather-forecasting needs and to help the agency analyze the impact of hyperspectral microwave observations on numerical weather prediction.
“Hyperspectral microwave sounding has the potential to change what’s possible in weather forecasting,” Spire CEO Theresa Condor said in an Aug. 26 news release. “By bringing this advanced capability to a commercial satellite platform, we can deliver richer observations of the atmosphere at the scale and speed needed to make a meaningful difference in forecasting.”
In January, Spire launched a Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder (HyMS) demonstrator, developed with NOAA funding, to validate the technology in a 16-unit cubesat. NOAA then awarded Spire a $3 million contract to evaluate how data provided by the demonstrator could improve numerical weather prediction.
