As smoke from hundreds of wildfires has engulfed Canada and the US, the first three operational satellites of the FireSat project, funded by Google, have been successfully placed in Earth's orbit. Built by Muon Space, these satellites will have the capability to detect even small fires in the US, Australia, and Europe by the end of this year.
The launch of these small satellites with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Base in California marks the beginning of the operational deployment of this project, managed by the nonprofit organization Earth Fire Alliance. After an initial three-month testing period, the satellites' data will be actively provided to wildfire response agencies, and all fire-prone regions will be monitored at least twice a day. Supported by more than $15 million from Google and $26 million from the Bezos Earth Fund, this project is considered the most prominent initiative in this field as the first satellite constellation dedicated to wildfire detection.