NOAA Extends Contract to Evaluate Hyperspectral Weather Sensor Data
Six-Month, $3 Million Award Runs Program Through March 2027, Widens Look at Storm Forecasting
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has extended a contract to evaluate hyperspectral microwave sounding data collected from orbit, adding six months and $3 million to a demonstration program that began earlier this year.
“By bringing hyperspectral microwave sounding to a scalable commercial constellation, we’re unlocking a new tier of global weather data.”
Theresa Condor, Spire Global
NOAA awarded the extension on July 31, 2026, to Spire Global of Vienna, Virginia, according to an announcement from NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. The extension runs the contract through March 31, 2027, and covers additional data collected from Spire’s Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder, or HyMS, through January 2027. A related Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) news release said the award also includes an additional, unfunded option for three months of data, valued at $2 million, that NOAA could exercise later.
The work builds on an initial delivery of HyMS observations earlier this year. NOAA said it will evaluate the sensor’s performance against the agency’s existing hyperspectral microwave capabilities, including its value for numerical weather prediction and for detecting and mitigating radio frequency interference. NOAA said the extended purchase will also let it assess the data’s effect on forecast models specifically during high-impact weather events, including hurricanes and winter storms.
The HyMS instrument, which Spire describes as capturing atmospheric observations across more than 2,000 sensing channels spanning key temperature and water vapor bands, launched aboard an in-orbit demonstration mission on Jan. 11, 2026, according to NOAA. The company said the sensor is designed to provide high-vertical-resolution atmospheric profiling and to resist radio frequency interference, including spectrum congestion, jamming and spoofing.
The extension is part of NOAA’s Commercial Data Program, which the agency operates under authority granted by the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017. The program has previously funded microwave sounder evaluations from other vendors: NOAA awarded a combined $4.27 million in September 2024 to Tomorrow.io of Boston and Orbital Micro Systems of Boulder, Colorado, for separate 12-month pilot studies of their own microwave sounder data.
“By bringing hyperspectral microwave sounding to a scalable commercial constellation, we’re unlocking a new tier of global weather data,” said Theresa Condor, CEO of Spire Global.
Spire said HyMS data is intended to complement its existing Radio Occultation and GNSS-R data products, which together provide a broader picture of atmospheric temperature and moisture.
“The first phase demonstrated that HyMS can successfully collect high-quality hyperspectral microwave observations from orbit,” said Mohammad Belal, program director for Microwave Technologies at Spire Global. “This extension allows us to evaluate those observations across a much broader range of atmospheric conditions and seasons, helping us better understand how the data can improve numerical weather prediction and complement existing weather observation systems.”
NOAA has not set a date for a decision on the unfunded three-month option.