Hydrosat has been selected by the U.S. Air Force for a $1.9 million contract to provide Hydrosat’s thermal satellite data to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF) — under this contract, Hydrosat will provide innovative cloud and weather prediction capabilities based on its thermal satellite data that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.
This significant achievement underscores the potential of Hydrosat’s industry-leading thermal data and its crucial role in enhancing cloud and weather prediction models for the Department of Defense. By integrating its cloud top temperature data into current models, Hydrosat will improve weather modeling capabilities, providing unparalleled decision-making superiority and full-spectrum awareness for the Air Force and Space Force. This capability will enhance operations planning critical to the execution of the National Defense Strategy.
The new contract is Hydrosat’s 5th contract with the United States Air Force, and its largest US Air Force Contract to date. Hydrosat also holds a contract to supply satellite data to the National Reconnaissance Office announced in December of 2023.
The contract is part of the AFWERX Tactical Finance program, known as TACFI. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded.
“Hydrosat is honored to deepen our long-standing partnership with the US Air Force through this contract and excited to deliver the U.S. Air Force thermal satellite data from our VanZyl satellites for the first time,” said Pieter Fossel, CEO and cofounder of Hydrosat. “This award is significant not only because it is to provide thermal data from our satellites but also because it is Hydrosat’s first contract for weather and marks the opening of a new market for the company.”
About Hydrosat
Hydrosat is the climate tech company leveraging thermal imagery to measure water stress in agriculture and help mitigate the effects of climate change. Hydrosat currently monitors millions of acres across customers such as NOAA, NRO, SupPlant, and Nutradrip, who trust the company’s high-resolution, timely satellite thermal imagery to deliver advanced analytics that convey precise crop yield forecasts and improved irrigation tools to financial and agribusiness customers around the globe.
