the beginnings of fires soon detected by a network of satellites

First studied by NASA researchers, then by a European research center, it is through a non-profit association, founded in 2024, that this network of specific satellites could see the light of day. The first will be in orbit from 2026.

The FireSat network, developed by Earth Fire Alliance, a non-profit association created in 2024, will be made up of 50 satellites in low orbit, approximately 600 kilometers above the planet. These satellites will be responsible for monitoring the Earth every 20 minutes and spotting possible start of fires. Their equipment will allow them to observe the ground precisely, in portions of 5 square meters, and to trace the path of these fires despite the presence of clouds and smoke, whether it is night or full sun.

It took five years of work to develop the final project, in partnership with Google and, above all, dozens of firefighters and other fire specialists. Earth Fire Alliance is not just American, it is a global project. The association, like so many other companies today, believes that data and its analysis guarantee the resolution of major problems.

This data will help control fires because, to quote a former fire chief who speaks in the Los Angeles Times, “When you see everything, you can understand everything”. He even seems surprised that it took so long for California, one of the world’s technology centers, to activate this type of device. The firefighter explains that a high definition vision of the fire, whether it has just started or not, will allow emergency services to organize their strategy more quickly, by deploying available resources to the most effective locations to control the flames. In addition, satellites will also be able to determine the speed of these flames and the temperature of the fire. They will also help to know where to intentionally start a fire to get rid of vegetation possibly responsible for an out-of-control fire. A well-known technique in the profession called burn-out.

This network will soon be active with the first three satellites put into orbit in space in 2026. This will already be enough to monitor each hot spot on the planet twice a day but logically, the regularity of the passages will increase with the presence of additional satellites. The initiative is expensive. Earth Fire Alliance has already raised $12 million and hopes to quickly raise three times that amount. Ultimately, it will take $300 million to $400 million to have a fully operational FireSat network.

One argument to convince investors is that, according to the United Nations, the number of fires will increase by 30% by 2050, partly because of global warming. Detecting a fire at its start would therefore save hundreds of millions of dollars. In the United States alone, according to the Earth Fire Alliance, fires cause $11 billion in damage per year. In California, two major insurance companies have even stopped offering home protection to some of their customers in recent years, because of the excessive risk of natural disasters. Even if they also justify their decision by inflation and very strict state regulation.