NOAA Teams with Three Companies to Advance Satellite Technology Tracking Severe Weather

NOAA Teams with Three Companies to Advance Satellite Technology Tracking Severe Weather

An artist’s conceptual drawing shows a small satellite in low-Earth orbit with a microwave sounder measuring temperature and water vapor from Earth's surface to the upper atmosphere. A microwave sounder scans the atmosphere vertically, seeing through clouds to capture information that fuels accurate weather forecasts, making it one of the most critical instruments for weather prediction. Credit: NOAA.

NOAA awarded $46,482,177 to three companies today to accelerate the development of new weather satellite instruments to provide key data that will advance the prediction of extreme weather and daily forecasts.

The three companies – Muon Space, Inc. of Mountain View, CA ($11,000,000), Orbital Micro Systems, Inc. DBA Weather Stream of Boulder, CO ($7,500,000), and Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc. of Vienna, VA ($27,982,177) – will develop microwave sounding instruments for satellites to measure global atmospheric temperature and water vapor from the Earth’s surface to the upper atmosphere.

The project, called Temperature and Moisture Advanced Technology Evolution or TMATE, is a priority of NOAA’s Near Earth Orbit Network Program, (NEON), which develops NOAA’s environmental satellites that fly in a polar orbit close to the Earth.

“The TMATE project brings together government and industry partners to meet critical data requirements to improve our nation’s weather forecasting,” said Tim Walsh, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Deputy Assistant Administrator for Systems (acting). “Microwave sounders are a national priority because their data are essential for the accuracy of weather forecasts.”

Microwave sounders are remote sensing instruments carried aboard satellites to measure natural microwave energy emitted by atmospheric molecules. They produce vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and pressure. The instruments can see through clouds that block other sensors. The three awards together will accelerate the development of microwave sounding technology that meets NOAA’s requirements for capturing microwave sounding data for forecasts. The project will take place over 24 months starting August 25, 2026.

The agreements were made under NOAA’s Other Transaction Authority, which allows NOAA to partner with industry for technology maturation of future data sources to improve weather forecasting. Congress granted NOAA the authority to negotiate OTAs under the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 and reauthorized the authority with Section 503 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amendments Act of 2020. Each of the three companies will develop, launch, and operate their own microwave sounding instrument, and the data will be available for NOAA to purchase commercially.

NOAA has successfully operated weather satellites in low-Earth orbit for over 50 years. NOAA’s low-Earth orbiting satellites make multiple orbits around the Earth each day to gather high-resolution data which is used to support days 3-7 of the National Weather Service’s weather forecasts. NOAA is developing a new satellite architecture that harnesses the expertise of commercial partners and focuses on more frequently launching small- to medium-sized satellites with Earth-observing instruments. The goal is a more resilient constellation of low-Earth satellites that can be deployed quickly to enhance weather forecasting and disaster management.

Monica Allen, monica.allen@noaa.gov