WindBorne Secures $49M US Air Force Contract for Balloon-Collected Weather Data
The U.S. Air Force has awarded WindBorne Systems a contract worth up to $49 million for atmospheric data collected by the company’s fleet of autonomous weather balloons. The startup, which operates around 700 balloons globally, provides real-time sensor readings and feeds them into its AI-powered WeatherMesh forecasting model. This is WindBorne's largest government contract yet and was awarded without competitive bidding due to the unique nature of their data collection capabilities. WindBorne has been working closely with U.S. agencies like the National Weather Service and Air Force, but this deal marks a significant expansion in funding for its operations and R&D efforts. The company recently raised $37 million in Series B financing and launched an updated forecasting model that it claims outperforms traditional systems used by institutions such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The contract allows the Air Force to order data from specific regions at particular times, with initial orders totaling $1.7 million. WindBorne’s balloons are uniquely maneuvered using AI models and ballast adjustments rather than engines, enabling them to collect critical weather information in extreme conditions like typhoons.
Topics: AI defense startups weather_forecasting