PlanetiQ Expands Satellite Constellation With GNOMES-10 Launch
PlanetiQ has launched its new GNOMES-10 satellite, strengthening its GNSS radio occultation constellation. The satellite aims to improve weather forecasts by collecting precise atmospheric and ionospheric data.
Global weather technology company PlanetiQ successfully launched its new GNOMES-10 satellite on October 1 aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. This launch expands the company's global GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) constellation, designed for high-precision atmospheric and ionospheric measurements.
The GNOMES-10 satellite carries PlanetiQ's fourth-generation Pyxis receiver, engineered to capture high-quality GNSS signals for radio occultation measurements. This advanced technology enables the satellite to deliver detailed atmospheric structure profiles, particularly in the lower troposphere and ionosphere.
PlanetiQ's satellites simultaneously track signals from all four major GNSS constellations: GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, and Galileo. By monitoring multiple GNSS systems concurrently with a wide field of view, PlanetiQ can generate more occultation measurements per hour than competing constellations, providing valuable data for weather modeling.
The company plans to launch an additional satellite, GNOMES-11, later this month. These additions are part of PlanetiQ's initiative to enhance the availability and quality of commercial GNSS-RO data for improved weather forecasting, space weather, and other critical applications.