PlanetiQ has been awarded a $15 million Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract by the U.S. Air Force to develop and launch a new generation of satellites combining three GNSS-based Earth observation techniques in a single platform.
The four-year contract, which began March 31, 2026, will advance GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO), polarimetric radio occultation (GNSS-PRO), and reflectometry (GNSS-R) capabilities.
As the largest commercial provider of GNSS-RO data, PlanetiQ currently operates a global constellation of satellites equipped with advanced receivers capable of capturing high signal-to-noise-ratio GNSS-RO and GNSS-PRO measurements. GNSS-PRO has demonstrated strong efficacy for measuring precipitation, a key capability for improving severe weather forecasting.
The STRATFI award extends that foundation in two directions. PlanetiQ will refine data-assimilation techniques to integrate GNSS polarimetric radio occultation data into numerical weather models, which improves the characterization of precipitation. The next-generation receiver will also add GNSS-R capabilities, supporting new applications such as ocean surface wind measurement, sea state characterization, and soil moisture monitoring over land. Data delivered will support Air Force applications including AI model training, data assimilation, and performance evaluation.
“This award is a big indication from the U.S. government that our technology matters and they are willing to put $15 million toward it,” said Chris McCormick, PlanetiQ chairman and founder. CEO Ira Scharf added that combining the three measurement types in a single platform would unlock “a more complete picture of the atmosphere and Earth’s surface.”
The Air Force contract builds on a string of government data agreements. In September 2025, NOAA awarded PlanetiQ a $24.3 million contract under the Commercial Data Program’s Radio Occultation Data Buy 2 — the agency’s single largest commercial satellite weather data purchase. Under that agreement, PlanetiQ delivers 7,000 GNSS-RO profiles per day, including 500 enhanced high-SNR profiles described as more than seven times higher in quality than profiles from other commercial providers, along with 2,500 low-latency Total Electron Content tracks daily. While NOAA is the procuring agency, the data is also used by NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and international government weather agencies.
The STRATFI program is administered through AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, which has awarded more than $7.24 billion in contracts since 2019 to accelerate technology transition to operational capability.
PlanetiQ was founded in 2015 by McCormick, who previously led Broad Reach Engineering, a pioneer in GPS radio occultation sensors for missions including COSMIC, before its acquisition by Moog in 2012.
