Orbital Oracle Technologies (orora.tech): Advanced CubeSat Constellation for Global near real-time Weather Forecasting

Precise weather forecasts are an essential information for companies and society of today.

Driven by strong demand, the services of the national weather bureaus are increasingly supplemented by private companies.

Although mathematical models are improving, their accuracy is bound by the quality and quantity of data input.

However, satellite images used today for global weather forecasting are either limited to certain areas and relatively low resolution (geostationary satellites) or provide high-resolution data for the same area with a long delay (satellites in lower orbits) which constrains the reliability of forecasts.

About 100 CubeSats to measure the Earth several times per hour
orora.tech will help to bridge this gap in weather forecasting with a constellation of one hundred 3-unit CubeSats capable of observing each location on Earth at a short distance.

“Our satellites use an innovative, patent-pending satellite framework, which allows the installation of an infrared camera in a constrained space in addition to the necessary supply and communication electronics,” said Björn Stoffers, Managing Director and Co-founder of Orbital Oracle Technologies (orora.tech).

“With a fleet of about 100 CubeSats orbiting the Earth at 600-700 km height we will achieve an efficient way to measure the surface temperature and cloud shapes on a global scale several times per hour. Our satellite images will provide a competitive advantage to private companies in the weather forecasting sector, as confirmed through extensive talks to renowned experts in the field.

“In the long term, we also plan on targeting the public sector and large companies which maintain own departments for evaluating satellite imagery.”

While our weather satellites will significantly improve forecasts in the private and public sector, we also hope to contribute to worldwide climate research by providing an unprecedented coverage of the polar regions.” Björn Stoffers, Orbital Oracle Technologies

The start-up will offer the data online using several pricing strategies, including APIs for large customers with direct access to be implemented in weather forecasting models.

The business idea for the start-up company orora.tech is a spin-off from the MOVE-II CubeSat development project of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), which will be launched into space in November 2018.

“We have partnered with TUM and UNSW Canberra to qualify the satellite’s supply electronics on two Australian satellites in 2019. In the meantime, our optics and the infrared camera will be further developed and qualified to be launched in our first CubeSat prototype in late 2019,” Björn Stoffers added.

The Orbital Oracle Technologies Team

The start-up company orora.tech founding team includes Thomas Grübler (Managing Director, focus Technology), Björn Stoffers (Managing Director, focus Business), Florian Mauracher (Head of Software Development), Rupert Amann (Head of Electronics Development).

The company already won several start-up competitions, received an EXIST business start-up grant, has been accepted at the ESA Business Incubation Centre Bavaria (ESA BIC Bavaria) and is currently in final negotiations for a seed round in November.

First revenues are expected to be generated starting with the volume production in 2021, reaching break-even after the full constellation is operational in 2024.

World's largest ecosystem for space-related entrepreneurship
ESA’s Technology Transfer and Business Incubation Programme Office (TTPO) operates the ‘ESA space solutions’ network of Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) and Technology Transfer Brokers offering complete access to all aspects of space-related innovation, technology and intellectual properties and is a gateway to ESA and European space research and developments.

Today, there are 20 ESA BICs in 17 European countries – Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and UK – forming the largest ecosystem in the world for space-related entrepreneurship.

Over 650 start-ups have been fostered and another 150 new start-ups are taken in yearly at ESA BICs to be supported under the two-years business development boosting programme.

Visit “Start-ups Zone powered by ESA space solutions”
Meet all the start-ups from 1 October until 5 October at the dedicated Start-ups Zone powered by ESA space solutions at IAC 2018 area at IAC 2018.

The  Orbital Oracle Technologies (orora.tech) entrepreneurs will be at the Start-ups Zone at IAC 2018 from 3 October noon until 5 October, and be pitching their business 4 October.