Golden, Colorado – October 14, 2026 -- PlanetiQ's GNOMES-10 satellite launched October 1 at 11:32 a.m. PDT aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, expanding the company's commercial GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) constellation. Partner ground stations established first contact soon after launch, and spacecraft commissioning began immediately.
GNOMES-10 carries fourth-generation Pyxis receiver built in Golden
The satellite carries PlanetiQ's fourth-generation Pyxis GNSS-RO receiver, built and tested at the company's Golden facility. Pyxis combines a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), high-rate signal sampling, precise timing and an advanced antenna design to retrieve detailed atmospheric profiles from each radio occultation event.
The receiver incorporates a high-accuracy oscillator and a bespoke satellite antenna. Together, they deliver measurements of atmospheric structure, including in the lower troposphere and ionosphere.
Four-constellation tracking drives higher observation rates
PlanetiQ satellites track signals from GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS and Galileo simultaneously. Each satellite also uses a ±75-degree limb-sounding field of view.
This lets the satellites observe more GNSS transmitters at once. According to the company, that yields more GNSS-RO observations per hour than other commercial RO constellations. The high-SNR data is aimed at resolving lower-troposphere features, where conditions change rapidly and conventional satellite observations are difficult.
Founder, President and Chairman Chris McCormick said the company's data supports weather applications by measuring the state of Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere.
GNOMES-11 launch planned later this month with identical receiver
PlanetiQ plans to launch GNOMES-11 later this month, carrying the same fourth-generation Pyxis receiver and adding lower-inclination GNSS-RO observations. Together, GNOMES-10 and GNOMES-11 are meant to expand the availability, quality and diversity of commercial GNSS-RO data for weather forecasting, space weather and other mission-critical applications.