DARPA Ouija image. Photo: DARPA

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Spire Global a contract to design a satellite to carry sensors to measure the ionosphere. The contract is part of DARPA’s Ouija program that aims to use sensors on low-orbiting satellites to monitor high frequency radio wave propagation in the ionosphere.

DARPA announced the Ouija program in April 2022. Its goal is to quantify the space HF noise environment, which is currently measured with ground-based measures. DARPA said that  improved characterization of the ionosphere can support warfighter capabilities.

DARPA plans for a second technical area of the program in a later solicitation to “develop assimilative models that ingest direct, in-situ, measurements of electron density from a satellite in VLEO [Very Low-Earth Orbit]. 

This is a win for Spire’s space services business, in which customers access space through Spire’s infrastructure either through dedicated Spire satellites, hosted payloads, or software payloads. Other Spire space service customers include NorthStar Earth & Space and Myriota. 

Spire did not disclose the terms of the contract. 

“Spire has built and launched over 150 satellites in the decade since the company was founded, and we’re excited to bring that heritage and experience in ionospheric data collection to this project,” said Kamal Arafeh, senior vice president of Sales for Spire. “For innovative programs like Ouija, the Space Services model provides a fast and cost-effective platform to build and scale new technology in space.”