# SENSE AIS receiver
*sensor . products*

Spire LEMUR payload for space-based reception of Automatic Identification System vessel signals.

## Specifications
- **product status**: operational
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **manufacturer**: spire-global
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"radiometer","measurement_principle":"passive","frequency_bands_ghz":[0.161975,0.162025],"scan_type":"static","notes":"Passive RF receiver for AIS VHF channels. Current EO-Atlas sensor schema has no dedicated RF receiver family, so this candidate is represented in the radiometer branch pending curator review of a RF-reception family."}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: operator
- **claim status**: unclaimed
- **provider**: spire-global
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","product_status":"operational","deployment_context":"orbital","manufacturer":"spire-global","description":"Spire LEMUR payload for space-based reception of Automatic Identification System vessel signals.","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"radiometer\",\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"frequency_bands_ghz\":[0.161975,0.162025],\"scan_type\":\"static\",\"notes\":\"Passive RF receiver for AIS VHF channels. Current EO-Atlas sensor schema has no dedicated RF receiver family, so this candidate is represented in the radiometer branch pending curator review of a RF-reception family.\"}"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
SENSE AIS receiver is a passive RF payload for space-based reception of AIS vessel messages. It collects shipborne AIS broadcasts from orbit and is used with terrestrial AIS collection in downstream maritime tracking services [^nasa-csda-spire][^kpler-ais-docs]. Its receiver frequency set is 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz, corresponding to AIS 1 and AIS 2 VHF channels [^uscg-vhf-ais-channels]. The payload observes vessel identity, position, and voyage broadcasts rather than imagery, so its buyer relevance is maritime traffic awareness, fleet monitoring, and in-situ signal collection from areas where terrestrial receiver coverage is incomplete [^spire-ais-whitepaper][^kpler-ais-docs].

## Compositional position
- spire-lemur-2 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> SENSE AIS receiver

## Sources
- [nasa-csda-spire] | NASA CSDA vendor page for Spire | https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/csda/vendor-spire/ | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [spire-ais-whitepaper] | Spire, An Introduction to Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) | https://spire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Spire-Maritime-intro-to-AIS-Data-1.pdf | tier=operator-engineering | accessed=2026-06-16
- [kpler-ais-docs] | Kpler / Spire AIS fundamentals documentation | https://documentation.spire.com/ais-fundamentals/ | tier=operator-datasheet | accessed=2026-06-16
- [uscg-vhf-ais-channels] | USCG international VHF marine radio channels and frequencies | https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/international-vhf-marine-radio-channels-freq | tier=legal-text | accessed=2026-06-16

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/sense-ais
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)