Case Study: NGA MagQuest achieves scalable, CubeSat-powered geomagnetic data collection for the World Magnetic Model with Spire

MagQuest - Customer Case Study

MagQuest, run by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, launched a competition to find new ways to collect geomagnetic data for the World Magnetic Model as ESA’s Swarm mission winds down—data that are critical for navigation, surveying, antennas, solar panels and GPS. Spire, partnering with SBQuantum, entered the competition with a CubeSat-based approach that leverages SBQuantum’s diamond quantum magnetometer integrated on Spire’s 6U LEMUR satellite bus and Spire’s global ground network and cloud-based data services.

Spire’s solution combined a 6U CubeSat demonstration carrying the modified magnetometer, 30+ ground stations for store-and-forward communications, and cloud processing and API delivery for end users. The joint entry tied for second in MagQuest and Spire and SBQuantum received $425,000 across the program’s three phases, demonstrating a scalable, secure, and reliable option to augment WMM data collection ahead of an operational procurement.

MagQuest