MagQuest teams prepare to put three novel solutions in orbit.

Seven years ago, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency put out a call to the world, seeking novel ways of collecting data for the World Magnetic Model, essential infrastructure powering modern communication and navigation. The agency offered substantial cash prizes and the opportunity to work closely with experts to develop promising solutions. All kinds of innovators — from small businesses, academic institutions, labs, startups, and other organizations — submitted solutions. Now, three teams are preparing to launch their nanosatellites aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of its Transporter-16 mission. This incredible milestone will test new, more resilient ways to collect geomagnetic data and demonstrates the effectiveness of open innovation and interagency collaboration in tackling a vital national security challenge.

Most of us use the World Magnetic Model every day without knowing it. The WMM is the mathematical framework that makes compass and navigation apps accurate, correcting for the fact that magnetic north and geographic north don’t align the same way everywhere on Earth. It underpins navigation for military operations, commercial aviation, and the smartphones used by more than 1 billion people around the world. To account for the slow, continuous (and sometimes erratic) drift of Earth’s magnetic field, the model needs to be updated every five years.

The current model, WMM2025, relies on data from the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellite constellation, which launched in 2013. That infrastructure is aging, and NGA has been investing in more resilient, cost-effective alternatives to support production of the next update, WMM2030. That investment has led to this pivotal moment.

This mission represents the first-ever effort to collect reliable geomagnetic data using CubeSat technology. Once in orbit, the three small satellites — each equipped with a distinct approach to precisely measuring Earth’s magnetic field — will begin collecting data to compare against WMM2025. The three teams have each developed novel solutions:

• Compact Spaceborne Magnetic Observatory CubeSat, University of Colorado Boulder. A CubeSat specifically designed and tested for magnetic cleanliness and accurate data from a compact form factor. A compact scalar-vector magnetometer designed specifically for CubeSats enables high-quality collection of magnetic field data.
• Diamond-Powered Geomagnetic Data Collection from LEO, Spire Global and SBQuantum. A diamond quantum magnetometer system deployed on a CubeSat, combining SBQuantum’s novel magnetometer technology and sensor expertise with Spire Global’s vertically integrated satellite infrastructure, ground stations, and data processing.
• Io-1, Iota Technology. A CubeSat featuring a deployable helical boom, vector fluxgate magnetometer, and atomic scalar magnetometer. Iota Technology is working alongside industry-leading partners, combining expertise in sensor technology, deployable structures, and mission design.

CubeSats can be built, launched, and operated for a fraction of the cost of traditional satellite systems — but collecting scientifically rigorous geomagnetic data from them has never been demonstrated at this scale.

The solutions also demonstrate how open innovation and interagency collaboration can tackle a national security challenge; the MagQuest program brought in new ideas and approaches and coordinated resources across agencies. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center supported technology evaluations and NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information provided technical support throughout. (MagQuest is managed by Luminary Labs through a contract with the NASA Tournament Lab.) Phase 4 provides three winning teams with monetary and technical support as they build, integrate, test, launch, and evaluate their solutions in orbit.

After launch and satellite deployment, each team will begin geomagnetic data collection. An expert review panel will evaluate performance against key milestones, and the results will directly inform NGA’s acquisition strategy for a WMM global magnetic field data collection capability.

The competition has always been designed as a proof of concept as much as a procurement mechanism. If CubeSat-based geomagnetic data collection works at the required level of precision, this launch will help usher in WMM2030 and shape the future of navigation.

SpaceX photo of Transporter-15 launch courtesy of NASA.