The U.S. Air Force has awarded WindBorne Systems a contract worth up to $48.727 million for commercial weather data gathered by autonomous balloons. The award was made September 29 and appeared in the Defense Department’s October 1 contract release — 11 days before TechCrunch highlighted it on October 12.
Confirmed: the firm-fixed-price IDIQ contract, FA233026DB004, runs through September 30, 2033. It covers continuous, global and targeted atmospheric vertical profiles from the surface to the stratosphere for Air Force forecasting and mission planning. The maximum ceiling is not a guaranteed spend: $1.702778 million is obligated under the first task order.
WindBorne says its fleet can steer vertically by venting gas to descend or releasing ballast to climb, then use different wind layers to move horizontally. That capability became unusually visible in August, when balloon W-9642 was guided into Typhoon Dolphin. WindBorne says it completed three loops in the eye, descended to roughly 8 meters above sea level, measured 929 mb pressure and later recorded 155 mph sustained wind in the eyewall.
TechCrunch reports WindBorne currently has about 700 balloons aloft globally. The company also feeds its atmospheric observations into its WeatherMesh AI forecasting system.
What is known: the Air Force can order data for specific regions and times. What is not known: how much of the $48.727 million ceiling will ultimately be used, how many observations the government will purchase, or where future task orders will concentrate.
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