Spire Case Studies Innovative Geomagnetic Data Collection Solution: A Case Study on Spire and SBQuantum's Award-Winning CubeSat

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	Innovative Geomagnetic Data Collection Solution: A Case Study on Spire and SBQuantum's Award-Winning CubeSat Spire

Innovative Geomagnetic Data Collection Solution: A Case Study on Spire and SBQuantum's Award-Winning CubeSat

Spire

Technology Category	Sensors - Dry Contact Sensors Sensors - GPS
Applicable Industries	National Security & Defense Telecommunications
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Procurement
Use Cases	Last Mile Delivery
Challenge	The United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) relies heavily on the World Magnetic Model (WMM) for a variety of essential public and military systems, including mobile navigation applications, surveying tools, antennas, solar panels, and GPS. The WMM is a representation of the Earth’s magnetic field, and its accuracy is crucial for the functioning of these technologies. The data for the WMM was being collected by the European Space Agency Swarm mission, which was launched in 2013 and was expected to conclude in 2021. Given the impending conclusion of the Swarm mission and the critical importance of the WMM, the NGA launched the MagQuest competition to find sustainable, reliable, and accurate data collection alternatives for the future. Read More
About Customer	The customer in this case study is the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The NGA is a combat support agency under the United States Department of Defense and a member of the United States Intelligence Community, with the primary mission of collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national security. The NGA is particularly interested in the World Magnetic Model (WMM), a representation of the Earth’s magnetic field, which is used in a variety of essential public and military systems. The NGA launched the MagQuest competition to find sustainable, reliable, and accurate data collection alternatives for the WMM. Read More
Solution	Spire and SBQuantum partnered to submit a joint entry to the MagQuest competition, proposing a diamond quantum magnetometer system deployed on a Spire 6U CubeSat. The solution included an in-orbit demonstration of a 6U LEMUR satellite bus designed by Spire, with SBQuantum’s modified and integrated commercial magnetic sensor technology. The solution also included a global ground network of 29 stations dispersed globally, using a store-and-forward concept to enhance the value of the data by providing sufficient data distribution, latency, and volume. Spire's cloud-based storage and computing infrastructure was used to process the measurements and provide access to end-users through easy-to-use APIs. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Sensors - Dry Contact Sensors

Sensors - GPS

Applicable Industries

National Security & Defense

Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Procurement

Use Cases

Last Mile Delivery

Challenge

The United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) relies heavily on the World Magnetic Model (WMM) for a variety of essential public and military systems, including mobile navigation applications, surveying tools, antennas, solar panels, and GPS. The WMM is a representation of the Earth’s magnetic field, and its accuracy is crucial for the functioning of these technologies. The data for the WMM was being collected by the European Space Agency Swarm mission, which was launched in 2013 and was expected to conclude in 2021. Given the impending conclusion of the Swarm mission and the critical importance of the WMM, the NGA launched the MagQuest competition to find sustainable, reliable, and accurate data collection alternatives for the future.

About Customer

The customer in this case study is the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The NGA is a combat support agency under the United States Department of Defense and a member of the United States Intelligence Community, with the primary mission of collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national security. The NGA is particularly interested in the World Magnetic Model (WMM), a representation of the Earth’s magnetic field, which is used in a variety of essential public and military systems. The NGA launched the MagQuest competition to find sustainable, reliable, and accurate data collection alternatives for the WMM.

Solution

Spire and SBQuantum partnered to submit a joint entry to the MagQuest competition, proposing a diamond quantum magnetometer system deployed on a Spire 6U CubeSat. The solution included an in-orbit demonstration of a 6U LEMUR satellite bus designed by Spire, with SBQuantum’s modified and integrated commercial magnetic sensor technology. The solution also included a global ground network of 29 stations dispersed globally, using a store-and-forward concept to enhance the value of the data by providing sufficient data distribution, latency, and volume. Spire's cloud-based storage and computing infrastructure was used to process the measurements and provide access to end-users through easy-to-use APIs.

Impact #1	The solution proposed by Spire and SBQuantum was successful in providing the NGA with a reliable and secure method for collecting geomagnetic data for the World Magnetic Model (WMM). The solution not only met the NGA's requirements for accuracy and reliability, but also offered the promise of rapid scalability. This scalability is particularly important given the wide range of applications that rely on the WMM. The success of the solution is also reflected in the fact that a competitive procurement for the operational WMM mission solution is slated to be released in Q4 2021.

Impact #1

The solution proposed by Spire and SBQuantum was successful in providing the NGA with a reliable and secure method for collecting geomagnetic data for the World Magnetic Model (WMM). The solution not only met the NGA's requirements for accuracy and reliability, but also offered the promise of rapid scalability. This scalability is particularly important given the wide range of applications that rely on the WMM. The success of the solution is also reflected in the fact that a competitive procurement for the operational WMM mission solution is slated to be released in Q4 2021.

Benefit #1	Spire and SBQuantum received a total of $425,000 in awards over the three phases of the MagQuest program.
Benefit #2	The solution proposed by Spire and SBQuantum includes a global ground network of 29 stations dispersed globally.
Benefit #3	The solution uses Spire's cloud-based storage and computing infrastructure to process the measurements and provide access to end-users.

Benefit #1

Spire and SBQuantum received a total of $425,000 in awards over the three phases of the MagQuest program.

Benefit #2

The solution proposed by Spire and SBQuantum includes a global ground network of 29 stations dispersed globally.

Benefit #3

The solution uses Spire's cloud-based storage and computing infrastructure to process the measurements and provide access to end-users.

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Overview

Innovative Geomagnetic Data Collection Solution: A Case Study on Spire and SBQuantum's Award-Winning CubeSat

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit