THE PROBLEM: Hurricanes, cyclones, and other storm systems have caused thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damage each year. Though weather satellites provide global coverage of storm systems, predictions are still plagued by great uncertainty. Timely and accurate hurricane forecasts could profoundly expedite preparation, evacuation, and survival; they are vitally important in daily life. To better understand and predict these complex storm systems, scientists need more frequent measurements. 

THE SOLUTION: Among all hurricane-sensing technologies, space-based microwave sounders, which penetrate cloud cover and measure 3D temperature, humidity, and precipitation within a storm, provide the greatest improvement to forecasting models. Under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) program, MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) developed a small, lightweight microwave sounder. The TROPICS technology requires 25 times less power, 50 times less mass, and 112 times less volume than existing polar-orbiting spacecraft — while maintaining comparable performance. The significant savings allow more sounders to be sent into orbit. Constellations of these sensors can work in tandem to keep a near-constant watch over tropical storms, tracking high-rate data to dramatically improve hurricane forecasting. 

THE TECH TRANSFER MECHANISM: In 2018, the MIT LL team demonstrated the first-ever microwave-sounding data from a rapid-to-launch commercial small satellite (CubeSats). MIT LL then won funding from NASA’s Earth Venture-Instrument competition. By 2023, five satellites were launched to collect data on hurricane intensification, and soon after, MIT LL found a transition partner in Tomorrow.io that planned to fabricate, launch, and operate a larger constellation of CubeSats than TROPICS, thereby improving hurricane prediction accuracy. 

THE TECH TRANSFER EXCELLENCE: Because the TROPICS technology resulted from 15 years of MIT LL investment and government grants, resulting in multiple IT owners, the team had to overcome significant licensing challenges in negotiating the Tomorrow.io Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). MIT LL also developed in-depth training materials for seven core industry partners involved in production and standardization. 

THE OUTCOMES: MIT LL’s partnership with Tomorrow.io augments the original taxpayer-funded TROPICS mission and expands its impact by increasing the size of the sounder constellation. Tomorrow.io has been awarded a competitive National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contract to assess the quality, characteristics, and impacts of available commercial microwave sounder observations. The first four spacecraft are providing essential tropical cyclone measurements as of March 2025. Next, Tomorrow.io plans to provide unprecedented sub-hourly global atmospheric measurements of temperature, humidity, and precipitation to the commercial sector.