PlanetiQ launches GNOMES-11, adding a mid-inclination GNSS-RO satellite

PlanetiQ, a US commercial provider of GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) weather data, has launched its GNOMES-11 satellite on SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission. It lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 20 October 2026. The satellite has contacted ground stations and is being commissioned.

GNOMES-11 follows GNOMES-10, launched on 1 October on Transporter-18 from Vandenberg. Muon Space built both spacecraft and integrated PlanetiQ's Pyxis payload, about 10 months after contract signature.

GNOMES-11 flies a lower-inclination, non-Sun-synchronous orbit. This increases sampling over the tropics and subtropics and into the mid-latitudes, at more varied times of day. In late September NOAA awarded PlanetiQ a task order worth up to $47.3 million for operational GNSS-RO and total electron content data. With both satellites, the constellation approaches 20,000 profiles per day.

Why it matters: GNSS-RO profiles feed numerical weather prediction, and better sampling of the tropics helps in regions with few conventional observations. Forecasters and researchers working on tropical weather and climate may benefit as commercial data becomes operational.