New Space provider Spire Global has hired former Shazam executive James Pearson as its Global head of Comms, reports PR Week. The more interesting question is why?
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance in terms of defining or recreating a sector,” Pearson told PR Week. “The way people view commercial aerospace, it is about taking a great story and telling it on a much larger scale, even though it already has global exposure.”
Spire uses a fleet of over 60 Cubesats currently in orbit to provide ADS-B aircraft and AIS maritime tracking, along with collecting GPS radio occultation data for better weather forecasting. The company plans to expand its fleet to around 150 nanosatellites in its final constellation. While ship and aircraft tracking fit side-by-side, the company is among the first commercial companies to sell its weather data to NOAA, giving it diversity and a lot of mileage out of its 3U-sized satellites.
But data services aren’t the only area where Spire wants to play. The company builds its cubesats in house and is more than happy to build them for others, putting it into competition with small satellite manufacturers such as GomSpace and Terran Orbital. Since Spire has a steady production line for its own needs, adding manufacturing customers offers the benefits of profits and the potential to lower its own costs through scale.
Pierson is relocating from New York to San Francisco and will report to Spire Head of Brand Nick Allain. In his initial weeks on the job, Pierson will rack up frequent flier miles, spending a week each at Spire’s offices in Luxembourg, Glasgow, Singapore, and Boulder, Colorado.
In addition to hiring Pierson, Spire has “quadrupled” its corporate marketing budget, providing another indicator of the company’s intentions to raise its profile over the next year.
