Tomorrow.io has announced the specific instrumentation suite for DeepSky, its next-generation constellation designed to address critical gaps in global atmospheric monitoring. The company stated on Thursday that the system will deploy five distinct instruments to capture real-time data from regions currently underserved by existing satellite networks.
What Happened
DeepSky is positioned as an evolution of Tomorrow.io’s existing Gen-1 constellation, with the goal of observing parts of the world that other instruments miss, including oceans, the Global South, and the vertical columns of the atmosphere. According to the company, the new system will consist of 12 satellites, each weighing approximately 800kg, and will include three new instruments in addition to the microwave sounder and radar found on Gen-1. York Space Systems was tapped as the prime contractor for the initial phase, delivering the M-CLASS platform under an $187 million contract first disclosed in March.
The five instruments planned for each satellite are designed to work in tandem to cover the atmosphere’s full vertical range. These include a precipitation radar to track storm height and rain location; hyperspectral microwave sounders for temperature and moisture readings through clouds; infrared and visible imagers for cloud and surface tracking; GNSS radio occultation for sharp vertical profiles; and GNSS reflectometry to measure surface winds within storm cores. The company noted that DeepSky will provide continuous monitoring of every location on Earth.
Why It Matters
Tomorrow.io argues that current forecasting is bottlenecked by a lack of observational data rather than computing power. "A forecast can only be as good as what was actually measured," said Rei Goffer, Tomorrow.io cofounder and CSO, in a statement. The company contends that across much of the planet, models have been filling in blanks due to a lack of physical instruments. Shimon Elkabetz, cofounder and CEO, stated that the lack of real-time knowledge in many regions makes short-term forecasting difficult, positioning DeepSky as essential infrastructure for global data.
The initiative is also framed within a broader competitive context, with the company suggesting that the combined sensor view will feed AI weather models to help keep the United States from falling behind China in space sensing capabilities. By enabling more accurate early-warning announcements, the system aims to serve enterprise customers who rely on precise environmental data.
The Bottom Line
Tomorrow.io did not provide a specific launch date for DeepSky, describing the timeline only as within "low single-digit years." The existing Gen-1 constellation will continue to operate until the new system comes online.