In a groundbreaking move to combat the growing threat of wildfires, Google is co-developing FireSat, a network of satellites designed to monitor Earth’s surface in near real-time for early signs of wildfires. Set to launch its first satellite in 2025, the FireSat constellation, created in partnership with Muon Space and the Earth Fire Alliance, aims to provide global wildfire updates every 20 minutes.
Equipped with cutting-edge infrared sensors developed by Google Research, FireSat will detect heat signatures as small as five square meters—roughly the size of a classroom—allowing for faster intervention before fires become uncontrollable. The initiative addresses a long-standing problem for fire agencies, who currently face a trade-off between high-resolution imagery that takes hours to receive and low-resolution images that arrive quickly.
By feeding real-time data to Google’s AI fire-detection models, the system will enable faster responses from emergency services, potentially preventing smaller fires from escalating into devastating wildfires. With support from the Moore Foundation and additional partnerships with the Environmental Defense Fund, FireSat aims to revolutionize wildfire management globally.
As wildfires are expected to increase by 50% by the end of the century, this technological breakthrough could provide authorities with a powerful tool to detect and contain wildfires before they spiral out of control. The FireSat system will also build a comprehensive global record of wildfire behavior, helping scientists understand and predict fire patterns in the future.
This isn’t Google’s first wildfire initiative. The tech giant has been applying AI models to wildfire detection since 2020, and the upcoming satellite system represents a significant leap forward in combating the devastating impacts of climate change.