SILVER SPRING, Md. (NOAA PR) — Today, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, NOAA released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the second purchase of space-based commercial radio occultation (RO) data for use in NOAA’s operational weather forecasts.

View RFP at SAM.gov

The RFP is open for 34 days and follows the December 2021 release of a draft Statement of Work for public comment. This is a follow-on to the Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts that were awarded in November 2020.

NOAA is soliciting commercial near-real-time satellite-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) RO and ionospheric measurements that will be processed into neutral atmosphere and space weather products. These derived products will be fed into NOAA’s operational data systems, including weather and space weather analysis and prediction systems, and used for weather, climate, and atmospheric research purposes. All data and products will be archived by NOAA.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (NOAA PR) — NOAA awarded three Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) space weather contracts to GeoOptics Inc. (Pasadena, CA), Space Sciences and Engineering LLC, dba PlanetiQ (Golden, CO), and Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc (San Francisco, CA).

NOAA’s Commercial Data Program (CDP) supports CWDP studies to demonstrate the quality and impact of commercial data on NOAA’s weather forecast models. These contract awards constitute the next round of NOAA’s CWDP studies with a particular focus on space weather data.

GeoOptics, PlanetiQ and Spire will provide near real-time radio occultation measurements from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers that will enable NOAA to derive ionospheric products that meet the current and anticipated needs of operational space weather models and applications.

ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 8, 2022 (Orolia PR) — After an exclusive negotiation process that began in December 2021, Orolia — a company recognized globally for its positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and related activities, technologies and equipment — today joins Safran Electronics & Defense, the European leader and world number three in inertial navigation systems.

By Danny Baird
​NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

GREENBELT, Md. — As the Artemis missions journey to the Moon and NASA plans for the long voyage to Mars, new navigation capabilities will be key to science, discovery, and human exploration.

Through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, will deliver an experimental payload to the Moon’s Mare Crisium basin. NASA’s Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) payload will test a powerful new lunar navigation capability using Earth’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals at the Moon for the first time.  GNSS refers to satellite constellations commonly used for position, navigation, and timing services on Earth. GPS — the GNSS constellation operated by the U.S. Space Force — is the one many Americans are familiar with and use on a daily basis.

SILVER SPRING, Md., May 19, 2022 (NOAA PR) — Today, NOAA released a Request for Proposal (RFP) to conduct a Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) Study of commercial space weather data sources and related capabilities that may help NOAA meet its space weather mission objectives. For this pilot study, NOAA is seeking measurements from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers that will enable NOAA to derive ionospheric products that meet the current and anticipated needs of operational space weather models and applications.  

NOAA’s Commercial Data Program (CDP) supports CWDP studies to demonstrate the quality and impact of commercial data on NOAA’s weather forecast models. Successful CWDP studies subsequently may lead to sustained commercial data purchases by CDP to support NOAA’s operational forecasting endeavors. 

Launch will include three satellites and hosted payloads for Space Services, the company’s Space-as-a-Service (SPaaS) business

VIENNA, Va., May 18, 2022 (Spire Global PR) — Spire Global, Inc.(NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, today announced that it will launch five satellites on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-5 Mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch will take place this month.

Xona has completed environmental testing for their upcoming demo mission, a significant step towards realizing the first high-performance commercial navigation system. 

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 10, 2022 (Xona Space Systems PR) — Xona Space Systems, the aerospace startup developing a precision navigation and timing system in low Earth orbit, today announced that their first in-space demonstrator has been delivered to Spaceflight Inc. for final integration after successfully completing testing and is scheduled for launch on SpaceX’s Transporter 5 in May. Xona is building the first ever independent high-performance satellite navigation and timing system designed to meet the needs of intelligent systems.

BOCA RATON, Fla. (Terran Orbital Corporation PR) — Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States aerospace and defense industry, today announced it shipped two next-generation satellites from GeoOptics, a global leader in remote Earth observation. Terran shipped the vehicles to Cape Canaveral for launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-5 mission.

BEIJING (Luokung Technology Corp. PR) — Luokung Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: LKCO) (“Luokung” or the “Company”), a leading spatial-temporal intelligent big data services company and provider of interactive location-based services (“LBS”) and high-definition maps (“HD Maps”) in China, recently announced the launch of its remote sensing holographic spatial-temporal portfolio of products and services (the “Luokung Remote Sensing Offerings”) offered by its affiliate, Luokung Remote Sensing Co., Ltd., for natural resource monitoring and carbon sink accounting at the recently held Second Spatial Information Smart Application for High Quality Development in the New Era Summit (the “Summit”), hosted by the China Association of Remote Sensing Application.

DENVER (iPosi, Inc. PR) — GPS/GNSS technology firm iPosi, Inc. and Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC) have been contracted by the Department of Defense’s Defense Spectrum Office (DSO) to develop a GPS/GNSS system to measure radio frequency (RF) path-loss that substantially increases shared spectrum without interference. The OTA contract addresses the need for increased shared spectrum between the DoD and wireless providers who require expanded access because of skyrocketing demand for broadband 5G spectrum.