The US Air Force is spending millions on data collected by massive autonomous weather balloons
- WindBorne’s weather balloon fleet secures a potential $49 million Air Force contract
- The military has ordered $1.7 million in data so far
- WindBorne operates about 700 balloons collecting atmospheric measurements worldwide
WindBorne Systems has secured a potential $49 million US Air Force agreement, allowing the military to purchase atmospheric measurements gathered by autonomous balloons worldwide.
The California startup operates about 700 balloons, supplying readings to paying customers that use the data to develop AI systems capable of forecasting weather conditions.
Unlike conventional aircraft, WindBorne’s balloons change altitude to encounter winds carrying them toward particular locations, adjusting buoyancy through air release and sand ballast.
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Military spending supports WindBorne’s expanding balloon network
The company uses atmospheric models to guide these movements, combining predictive software with an extensive fleet to place balloons where useful measurements can be collected.
Back in August 2026, WindBorne became the first company to guide an unpowered flight system into the typhoon’s eye, collecting data from the typhoon.
“That’s a pretty novel step, and the two ingredients for that are one, having good wind and weather models, and knowing how to navigate them; and two, having a large enough constellation that you have balloons in the right places,” said Andrey Sushko, co-founder and CTO of WindBorne Systems.
“It’s one of the first times that a deep-learning model was used for actual operational decisions.”
The military agreement allows the Air Force to request measurements for particular locations and periods instead of purchasing a fixed quantity of information upfront.
Although the deal carries a maximum value of $49 million, actual spending depends on military needs and so far, the military has placed orders worth about $1.7 million.
“This is largely a vehicle through which continued growth of the constellation can be supported, as well as some work on research and development to continue to improve the hardware and performance of the balloons,” Sushko told TechCrunch.
The contract was awarded without competing bids, and Sushko said the government determined that “for this capability of collecting global data, we were the only company able to provide it in the way that met their needs for these operations.”
AI forecasting gives balloon measurements additional value
WindBorne also incorporates balloon measurements into WeatherMesh 6, its forecasting system, which the company claims performs better than the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ traditional approach.
The European Centre relies on atmospheric physics simulations, while machine learning systems derive predictive relationships from historical observations and generate forecasts using learned patterns.
Neither approach eliminates the need for reliable measurements, because forecasting systems depend on atmospheric information to estimate developing conditions and assess possible future changes.
AI forecasting has advanced alongside transformer architectures and access to large historical weather datasets, enabling researchers to develop models without repeatedly solving conventional atmospheric equations.
The company’s claimed forecasting advantage remains its own assessment, and independent comparisons are necessary to establish how consistently WeatherMesh 6 outperforms established systems across different weather conditions.
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WindBorne’s weather balloon fleet secures a potential $49 million Air Force contract The military has ordered $1.7 million in data so far WindBorne operates about 700 balloons collecting atmospheric measurements worldwide WindBorne Systems has secured a potential $49 million US Air Force agreement, allowing the military to purchase atmospheric measurements…
