The Low Earth Multi-Use Receiver (LEMUR) is Spire's 3U CubeSat platform used to track maritime, aviation, and weather activity from space. Lemur-2 is the initial constellation of low-Earth orbiting satellites built by Spire Global, Inc. in San Francisco, California, USA. These triple-unit CubeSats carry two payloads for meteorology and ship traffic tracking.
The company currently operates a fleet of more than 80 CubeSats, one of the largest commercial constellations by number of satellites, and the largest by number of sensors. Its satellites are integrally designed and built in-house. It has launched more than 100 satellites to orbit since its creation.
The company has offices in San Francisco, Boulder, Washington DC, Glasgow, Luxembourg, Singapore.
The satellites are deployed from both the ISS (International Space Station) and the visiting space vehicle, demonstrating the technology at a range of altitude bands. The Lemur-2 satellites are launched in small batches as secondary payloads.
The Lemur-2 satellites carry two payloads: STRATOS GPS radio occultation payload and the SENSE AIS payload.
The SENSE payload enables tracking ships worldwide by receiving their AIS signals. Spire satellites, which orbit close to Earth's atmosphere, listen for GPS satellite signals - which are impacted as they pass through Earth's atmosphere. Using a process called GPS radio occultation, Spire measures the change in GPS signal readings to calculate very precise profiles for temperature, pressure, and humidity here on Earth.
Facts in Brief
Launch Vehicle: various
Launch Site: various
Mass: 6 kg