NOAA Awards Contracts to Spire and PlanetiQ for Radio-Occultation Data
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded contracts to Spire Global and PlanetiQ to provide radio occultation data for terrestrial and space weather forecasts.
## NOAA Awards Contracts to Spire and PlanetiQ for Radio-Occultation Data The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded contracts to Spire Global and PlanetiQ to provide radio occultation data for terrestrial and space weather forecasts. This data will be used to improve weather forecasting and modeling, as well as space weather prediction and decision support services. Spire Global has been awarded a $3.7 million contract to provide 4,600 daily global navigation satellite system (GNSS) profiles and 1,200 temporal resolution enhancements. Temporal resolution enhancements reveal changes in atmospheric conditions throughout the day. PlanetiQ, on the other hand, has been awarded a $2.7 million contract to deliver 4,200 GNSS profiles and 500 total electron content tracks per day. Space weather forecasts ingest total electron content information. The radio occultation data will be delivered from September 18 through December 1, 2026. This data will be shared with NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy to feed numerical weather prediction models and support space weather applications. U.S. government and international government agencies also use commercial data for operations and research. ## NOAA's Use of Commercial Data NOAA plans to establish an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle later this year with a ceiling of $2.35 billion over 10 years. Through the IDIQ, NOAA will “pilot, operationalize, and expand the use of commercial data,” according to the agency announcement. This will allow NOAA to lower costs and drive innovation, thereby improving weather forecasting and modeling, space weather prediction, and decision support services across its mission areas. ## PlanetiQ's Next-Generation GNOMES Satellites PlanetiQ has announced that it has completed testing of its next-generation of GNOMES satellites in preparation for launch later this year. This milestone represents an important step toward delivering more atmospheric observations to customers around the world. By expanding its constellation, PlanetiQ will increase the availability of the highest-precision GNSS-RO profiles available, supporting more accurate weather forecasts, enhanced situational awareness, and better informed decision-making. According to Chris McCormick, PlanetiQ chairman, president, and founder, “This milestone represents an important step toward delivering more atmospheric observations to our customers around the world.” Spire CEO Theresa Condor also commented on the award, stating that “NOAA’s continued use of Spire’s data reflects the confidence we’ve built through years of delivering reliable, operational weather observations at global scale.”
