On July 31, 2026, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a contract extension for $3 million to Spire Global Subsidiary Inc. (Spire) of Vienna, VA to buy an additional 6 months of Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor (HyMS) microwave sounding data which extends the current contract through March 31, 2027. This extension is part of the Commercial Data Program, whose mission is to acquire space-based observational weather data from the private sector to improve NOAA’s weather forecasts and explore ways to meet mission requirements more efficiently.
Under this contract, Spire will supply additional HyMS data through January 2027, collected from the In-Orbit Demonstration mission that was launched on Jan. 11, 2026. The microwave sounding data will be evaluated by NOAA for impact on numerical weather prediction (NWP). This evaluation will assess the sensor’s performance against NOAA’s hyperspectral microwave capabilities for enhanced NWP performance, radio frequency interference detection and mitigation. The extended data purchase will also allow NOAA to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the data’s impact on NWP models across high-impact weather events, including hurricanes and winter storms.
For decades, researchers, scientists and meteorologists relied on passive microwave sensors to collect observations of the atmosphere, the planet surface, and water that is either in the atmosphere or on the Earth’s surface. However, the legacy broad-band instruments lack the vertical resolution needed to capture fine atmospheric structures. Hyperspectral microwave sensor technology uses high-spectral resolution in sounding microwave bands, allowing data users improved observations in all-weather conditions, and potentially improving NWP.
NOAA’s authority to manage CDP is pursuant to the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017. This statute directs NOAA to assess, use, and where appropriate, procure commercial weather and space weather data to enhance forecasting capabilities. Appropriated funds specified for the CDP were used to undertake this work.