Rendering of Muon Space’s second satellite, MuSat-2. Photo: Muon Space

Muon Space has been awarded an option to the company’s contract with Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLMC) to collect ionospheric data on the MuSat-2 satellite mission.  Under this contract option, the Department of Defense (DoD) will evaluate the commercial data from Muon Space’s MuSat-2 satellite to use in weather forecasting, ionospheric modeling, impact applications, and climate change assessments

Muon Space announced the deal on July 11. It is with the AFLMC’s Weather Systems Branch and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). The performance period is two years extending through September 2024. This is an optional expansion from the company’s awarded in September 2022 to develop a space-based prototype for global weather sensing. 

“Muon Space is honored by the Air Force, Space Force and DIU’s belief in our capabilities to bring new insights to DoD weather and ionospheric models with new data to include soil moisture, ocean winds, and total electron content.  We’re excited to showcase the operational relevance of this commercial space dataset to the DoD,” said Muon Space CEO Jonny Dyer. 

Muon Space recently launched its first satellite, MuSat-1, on SpaceX’s Transporter-8 mission in June. It is the first in the company’s plan to launch a constellation to collect climate data.