Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, today announced it was awarded a $6.5 million, 12-month contract renewal to continue participation in NASA’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program. The contract represents a $500,000 increase from the previous award of $6 million in June 2022.
Spire will continue to deliver its comprehensive catalog of Earth observation data, associated metadata and ancillary information from its fully deployed satellite constellation to the Agency. Through the contract renewal, data collected and shared will include, but is not limited to:
- GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) soundings, which can be assimilated into weather models to improve global weather forecasting accuracy;
- GNSS Reflectometry data (GNSS-R) to measure sea ice, soil moisture and ocean surface wind speed;
- Space weather measurements of electron density and scintillation to monitor the ionosphere and prepare for and react to weather events in space;
- Satellite state vector, altitude and precise orbit determination data to correct errors in orbital drag models; and
- Magnetometer observations
As one of the original vendors for the CSDA Program, Spire has provided Earth observation data to NASA’s CSDA Program since 2018. With this contract extension, Spire’s comprehensive data will be available to all U.S. Government-funded research and federal agencies for scientific purposes.
“The CSDA Program provides essential Earth observation data that plays a vital role in addressing key challenges faced by U.S. government agencies and researchers, including climate change,” stated Chuck Cash, Vice President of Federal Sales at Spire. “This program exemplifies the power of collaboration between the private and public sectors in expediting our journey towards constructing a stronger and more sustainable future.”
“These GNSS-derived data are important to our understanding of the Earth system – both the surface and the atmosphere. When combined with data from traditional sources, these commercial data broaden our coverage of the Earth in both space and time. This allows us to have a more complete picture of the Earth system, which is fundamental for improving our understanding,” said Will McCarty, NASA CSDA Program Scientist.
Spire will provide rolling access to 12 months of GNSS science data with a 30-day latency. Federal agencies and U.S. government-funded researchers can request access to the data via the CSDA Program’s commercial datasets webpage.