Sofar Ocean Timeline

Events

• 2026-04-29 - Product Launch - Sofar Ocean introduces Spotter Scout uncrewed surface vehicle beta - The beta vehicle is designed for deep-water and remote data collection without a mooring. Operators can assign waypoints and loiter radii while monitoring the platform through a live camera. The first-look demonstration covered station keeping, sensor… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2026-02-19 - Capability - Sofar Ocean upgrades Spotter Dashboard for fleet operations - The update improves responsiveness for large fleets and adds clearer charts, maps and historical observation breadcrumbs. New data products include wave spectra and second-resolution spectrograms alongside expanded oxygen, salinity and acoustics streams.… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2025-03-13 - Partnership - MITRE and Sofar Ocean establish Bristlemouth testbed - Bristlemouth defines an ocean-proof connector and peer-to-peer hardware interface for interoperable marine systems. MITRE committed to equip its Massachusetts BlueTech Lab as the first Bristlemouth centre of excellence. The testbed is intended to shorten… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2024-09-18 - Deployment - National Hurricane Center operationalises Sofar Spotter observations - Forecasters use Spotter wave, wind, sea-surface-temperature and pressure observations in data-sparse ocean regions. The observations help validate models, verify current conditions and support short-term adjustments to wave forecasts. The operational feed… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2024-06-25 - Demonstration - Spotter matches ADCP current measurements in 24-day field comparison - Across a 24-day field comparison, Spotter observations of current speed and direction were nearly identical to the ADCP reference. The tested system combined a Spotter buoy, Smart Mooring and integrated Aanderaa 4830 ZPulse Doppler Current Sensor. Sofar… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2023-08-03 - Partnership - Sofar Ocean signs five-year research agreement with Naval Oceanography - The agreement covers hardware for ocean data collection, data assimilation and data-as-a-service workflows. Sofar contributes its Spotter network, Smart Mooring devices, Bristlemouth connectivity work and operational forecasts. The collaboration builds on a… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2023-05-12 - Product Launch - Sofar Ocean releases Spotter Power Save Mode - Power Save Mode turns off Spotter's GPS sensor during sampling dwell periods to reduce energy use. Sofar measured battery-life gains of at least 25% and as much as 69%, depending on operating mode. The savings enable year-round deployments at higher… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2023-03-15 - Deployment - Ocean Exploration Trust deploys Spotter buoys across Pacific expeditions - The partnership began with three Spotter buoys deployed from E/V Nautilus during a 2019 voyage to American Samoa. By the dated report, Spotters had been deployed on multiple expeditions to collect wave and meteorological observations. The observations… - source: sofarocean.com
• 2021-11-02 - Funding - Sofar Ocean raises $39M Series B - Union Square Ventures and Foundry Group led the $39 million Series B round. The capital was allocated to global expansion of Sofar's ocean-sensing network, technology platform and team. Sofar's network combines autonomous marine sensors with data products… - source: sofarocean.com