Space Is Open for Business: The Industry That Can Transform Humanity

by Robert C. Jacobson

When the startup did not win the competition, Platzer ended up reorienting; he quickly pivoted the opportunity as Spire Global and raised several tens of millions of dollars. To date, Spire has raised over $160 million over ten funding rounds, the last of which occurred in September 2019. Investors include the Luxembourg government, Luxembourg Future Fund, Itochu Corporation and Mitsui & Co. (two of Japan’s largest trading companies), and London-based Seraphim Capital.22 In September 2015, Spire launched four satellites aboard an Indian rocket as part of its emerging commercial weather satellite network.23 Spire has also partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) to gather weather data that improves global forecasting. In 2018, Platzer told CNBC that he estimates this data to be worth close to $3 billion for his company over the next twenty-five years.