US Air Force signs up to $49M contract for WindBorne balloon data

In short: The U.S. Air Force agreed to buy weather data from WindBorne Systems’ self-flying balloons under a contract worth up to $49 million.

What happened

WindBorne Systems, a startup based in Redwood City, California, has won a new U.S. Air Force contract to provide data collected by its fleet of autonomous weather balloons. The deal could be worth as much as $49 million.

WindBorne says it currently has about 700 balloons flying around the world. These balloons collect sensor readings from the atmosphere, which is the layer of air around Earth. WindBorne sells this data to customers and also uses it to improve its own AI weather forecasting model, which is software that learns patterns from past weather to make predictions (like a very advanced version of a weather app).

The Air Force will not automatically spend the full $49 million. It will pay only when it places orders, including for specific regions and specific times. TechCrunch reports that the Air Force has ordered $1.7 million worth of data so far, and WindBorne expects more orders.

WindBorne’s co-founder and CTO, Andrey Sushko, told TechCrunch the contract was awarded without competitive bidding. He said the government determined WindBorne was the only company that could provide this kind of global data in the way it needed.

Why it matters

Better weather data can help with planning and safety, including military flights and operations. It also shows how weather prediction is changing, with more groups using AI models that can produce forecasts faster, as long as they have enough real world measurements to learn from.

Source: TechCrunch AI