ISRO’s PSLV-C22 launch mission. Photo: ISRO

[Via Satellite 06-30-2015] Commercial weather company PlanetiQ is in discussions with Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to launch its constellation of GPS Radio Occultation satellites. The company told Via Satellite that current discussions are ongoing for launching the first two satellites of the constellation onboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) during the third quarter of 2016.

PlanetiQ, with manufacturing partner Blue Canyon Technologies, is building a constellation initially comprised of 12 small satellites by the end of 2017 focusing on weather, climate and space weather. By 2020 the constellation is anticipated to reach 18 satellites.

Earlier this year PlanetiQ successfully tested its Pyxis weather instrument, paving the way for its constellation. Each satellite is expected to have a mass of approximately 22 kilograms, and with 12 in orbit the microsatellites are expected to deliver more than 8 million observations of temperature, pressure, and water vapor per day.