Artist’s impression of one of Spire Global’s Lemur satellites.
Spire Global has a supercomputer-equipped satellite sitting on a Vega rocket in French Guiana, almost ready to go to space. But that rocket isn’t going anywhere soon, because launch provider Arianespace is contending with the new normal — restrictions due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. (You can read the latest Forbes information on coronavirus here.)
The indefinite delay is a setback, but Spire is pivoting as quickly as it can to help customers in other ways. The data analytics provider has rapidly been moving into weather prediction these past few months anyway — including a $40 million funding round in the fall. Spire has been so active in this domain that it promoted Alexander MacDonald to chief science officer this week after MacDonald led global weather model development at Spire.
And for shipping companies grappling with new coronavirus movement restrictions, Spire’s other business of aircraft and vessel tracking from space continues to help. So much so, that more than 98 percent of customers renewed their contracts in Q1 with Spire, said CEO Peter Platzer. That’s amid an uncertain economic environment that is changing daily, if not more rapidly.
“The product that we create is really incredibly helpful to them, including — in particular — in the current situation,” said Platzer during a phone call from Luxembourg, where residents like himself are only allowed one stroll around the block a day.
Platzer’s schedule has changed, but he’s adapting as best as possible. Spire has six offices around the world and is fortuitously used to carrying on many of its key conversations by video chat, so now people are doing that at home instead of at the office. Platzer also is enjoying a break from plane travel, as he typically is climbing on board a flight about every 3.5 days, he said.
Analysis of shipping data worldwide shows that the current lockdown is decreasing burning of fossil fuels, Platzer said, which is a positive for the environment. He mused that may lead to longer-term changes in the industry, although it’s too early to predict in what way it would evolve.
A worldwide representation of the Spire Global satellite signals, in radio wavelengths.
“I think people will say, ‘I want to keep some of the clean air, some of the better protection’,” he said. “To keep some of that, and not just come out of this and go to what it was beforehand. We will come out of it, and take something, and learn from it.”
The environment is prime among Spire’s and MacDonald’s focuses. MacDonald is formerly deputy assistant administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). MacDonald is thus helping Spire grapple with the “generational challenge” the company sees coming, Platzer said — which is climate change, and how it impacts the daily weather.
Assisting Spire in that quest will be a new hire, Jeff Rex, who joins as vice-president of engineering and will report to MacDonald. Rex previously developed a global weather model at Panasonic, alongside current NOAA director Neil Jacobs.
And when the market is ready, Spire’s supercomputer satellite will go to space to beam data to Earth more efficiently. The satellite will crunch more information on board, instead of leaving important data “behind” in space while waiting for ground stations to deal with the download. It is hoped that the satellite will help Spire further with its data products, in the months and years to come.
In the meantime, Spire is rapidly evolving and combining its products to keep customer trust. Weather prediction and maritime products will come together. Agriculture, weather and soil moisture information can all be combined. “That’s the next big step that we see moving into, over the next one or two years,” Platzer said.
