The US Air Force has awarded a contract to WindBorne Systems, a Silicon Valley startup, for data collected by its autonomous weather balloons. The agreement could be worth nearly $50 million to the company.
WindBorne Systems, founded in 2015, operates around 700 weather balloons globally. These balloons gather atmospheric sensor readings, which the company sells to clients and integrates into its proprietary AI weather forecasting model.
The contract, awarded without competitive bidding, is the largest single agreement for WindBorne. The Air Force will pay for data as needed, with orders for specific regions and times. To date, orders totalling $1.7 million have been placed, and executives anticipate further orders.
Andrey Sushko, WindBorne co-founder and CTO, stated that the contract will support the continued expansion of their balloon fleet and fund research and development to enhance hardware and performance. He added that the government determined WindBorne was the sole provider capable of meeting their global data collection needs for these operations.
In August, WindBorne became the first organisation to deploy an unpowered flight system to collect data within the eye of a typhoon. The company navigates its balloons by adjusting altitude, bleeding air, or dropping ballast to utilise winds for directional control.