As Atlantic hurricane season surges to life, federal forecasters must say goodbye to one of their most valuable tools—Saildrones. These uncrewed ships sail into the hearts of tropical storms to collect real-time data that scientists use to predict their strength and path.
For the past four years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has deployed Saildrones to improve the accuracy of its hurricane forecasts and warnings. The small drone ships have played an especially important role in predicting rapid storm intensification, which drastically increases the extent of a hurricane’s impact. This year, however, the California-based company behind Saildrone was “unable to bid” on a NOAA contract, agency spokesperson Keeley Belva told Gizmodo in an email.
Belva did not say why Saildrone was unable to bid. According to a NOAA employee who spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity, the agency sent out its request for contract proposals too late, preventing Saildrone from bidding and from pre-deploying its fleet to multiple launching ports in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast ahead of hurricane season.
“NOAA continues to explore the use of other uncrewed systems in meeting the agency’s data needs within hard-to-access regions of tropical cyclones during the 2025 season,” Belva told Gizmodo. “The agency is preparing for the use of uncrewed surface vehicle deployments with industry partners for the 2026 season.”
The news adds to growing concerns about the agency’s readiness for hurricane season, which officially began on June 1. Since President Donald Trump took office, NOAA has faced sweeping staff cuts, grant freezes, and travel and training restrictions, according to the Associated Press. The agency’s National Weather Service (NWS) office alone has lost over 10% of its staff since January, CBS News reported. Now, the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal threatens to reduce NOAA’s budget by $1.6 billion.
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