Today, the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) announces that it has entered into a partnership with Spire, a space-based data company, to host an on-site ground station. The ground station is the only one of its kind in Austria and is hosted at the OeWF’s Spacesuit Laboratory in Innsbruck. Spire will leverage the OeWF in keeping the ground station online and working to meet or exceed high industry standards. The new site joins Spire’s ground station network, which includes tens of locations around the world, and is used to downlink crucial ship and weather data from the company’s constellation of nanosatellites. 

The new ground station is not Spire’s first tie to Austria: Austrian-born CEO Peter Platzer founded Spire during 2012 in San Francisco with the goal of providing satellite-powered data through highly cost-effective nanosatellites. To date, the company has launched 17 satellites and has opened offices in the US, UK, and Singapore. Speaking about the partnership, Peter said,

„the OeWF provides Spire with the unique opportunity to host a ground station with a highly competent research institution in the heart of Europe. This partnership is a model of success for the New Space industry and provides us with another strong link to Austria.“

Ground stations are an important part of maintaining a satellite constellation and serve as a vital ground-to-space link. Spire satellites orbit the Earth about every 90 minutes. Each time a Spire satellites passes over a ground station, it downlinks its most critical data. When deployed around the world and paired with a robust low-Earth orbit constellation like Spire’s, ground station infrastructure can enable near real-time access to data from space for ship and weather tracking.

The OeWF works in collaboration with institutions, government, and industry alike

„This partnership strengthens Austria’s position as a member of the New Space community“,

said Dr. Gernot Grömer, President of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF).

„Space is a resource which we all share and productive relationships like this make accessing it easier and provide an excellent model for future cooperation“

About Spire
Spire Global, Inc. is a leading player in the nanosatellite sector, building the world’s most advanced, constantly refreshed constellation. In an industry that is used to measuring development periods in years, Spire has accelerated timelines to a period of just weeks. Spire’s solutions offer organizations insights into weather & climate, shipping & supply chain and maritime domain awareness. This network of nanosatellites senses the ¾ of the planet inaccessible to most current systems which rely largely on land-based remote sensing. To learn more, visit: www.spire.com

About the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF)
The Austrian Space Forum (Österreichisches Weltraum Forum, OeWF) is a national network for aerospace engineers, scientists and people with a passion for space. The citizen-science organization is involved in cutting edge space exploration research and serves as a communication platform between the space sector and the public; it is embedded in a global network of specialists from the space industry, research and policywww.oewf.org

Media Contact OeWF
Olivia Haider
OeWF Media Officer Deputy

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