FireSat satellites get $26 million to track wildfires

FireSat wildfire-detection – FireSat, a wildfire-detection satellite program backed by a $26 million Bezos Earth Fund grant, will launch three satellites next month to track fires globally. Earth Fire Alliance says it aims for a 50-satellite constellation by 2030, revisiting every point o

When a grass fire started by the side of an Oregon road last summer. it spread to just half an acre—too small to stand out on typical satellite views. It was spotted anyway. using a new prototype from FireSat. a satellite program built specifically to detect wildfires before they grow out of control.

The stakes behind that moment are now moving into the real world. FireSat is receiving a $26 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund. building on earlier support from Google.org and other partners. Next month, three FireSat satellites are set to launch and begin tracking fires globally. By 2030. Earth Fire Alliance. the nonprofit behind the project. plans to deploy a constellation of 50 satellites. revisiting every point on the planet every 20 minutes.

The effort is brand-new in its current form. Earth Fire Alliance launched in 2024 after its team met with more than 200 fire agencies. land managers. and policymakers to map out what would make wildfire resilience stronger. “We realized there was a big gap in the understanding of fire,” says Brian Collins, the nonprofit’s executive director. “The biggest theme that kept coming up was better data to truly understand the scope and scale of wildfire across the planet. ” he says.

Weather satellites can already spot some fires, but they weren’t designed for this job. FireSat’s satellites—designed by Muon Space—collect data across wavelengths beyond visible light. Each band offers a different piece of the story: short-wave infrared can see through smoke; mid-wave infrared can detect both intense fires and lower-intensity burns; long-wave infrared measures ground temperature; and near infrared shows how plants and trees are responding to fire.

FireSat’s key claim is the ability to gather all of that information at the same time and in high resolution—down to a small fire roughly the size of a garage. It also aims to reduce false alarms by distinguishing fire from look-alikes such as the sun reflecting off a metal roof. “so we don’t have false alarms. ” Collins says.

The satellite system isn’t meant to replace other tools. Instead. it can work alongside cameras that can quickly spot fires when they’re just starting but may struggle to capture the full picture—especially when locating smoke is difficult and when smoke fills the air. As a fire grows and visibility drops, the satellite can show where the fire is moving.

Fire agencies across multiple regions are already early partners, stretching from Colorado to Australia. In the Amazon rainforest—where agencies may not learn about a fire until it has been burning for 24 hours—FireSat’s approach could help with earlier detection and response. It could also track low-intensity fires that may not require intervention, while building a broader view of wildfire activity.

That broader view matters because today, only the largest fires are typically reported. Earth Fire Alliance also says it is forming a global network of fire agencies, so teams can share operational knowledge across borders—such as a team in California exchanging notes with one in Portugal.

The project’s push for speed is closely tied to the pace of the climate problem it is meant to address. “As climate change is making wildfires larger and more intense. we saw an opportunity to do something about that. ” says Tom Taylor. president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. Taylor says the grant decision reflects an urgency: “We saw an opportunity to do something quickly—we could make sure the launch happens this year rather than waiting a year. ” he said. “An important part of our decision is where we can make a difference.”.

Taylor also points to what comes after the first detections. As FireSat collects data. it is building what the program describes as the first complete record of fire activity on Earth. That database, he argues, can be used to predict how future fires will spread or where they might start. “Ultimately. if you build a database of this information and you start to combine it with other information. like weather. landscape. and terrain. we hope that you can get [to a place] where now you’re predicting wildfire. ” Taylor says.

For now. the immediate milestone is operational: three FireSat satellites launching next month. starting with global tracking. and setting the foundation for an expanding constellation that Earth Fire Alliance wants to scale to 50 satellites by 2030—so the planet can be revisited. point by point. every 20 minutes.

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