A nonprofit coalition Earth Fire Alliance partnered with Muon Space and Google to launch FireSat, a fleet of satellites that will scan the globe to provide real-time information on wildfires and compile data. The goal is to have more than 50 satellites in orbit by 2030.
"What we found was limiting us was our true understanding of wildfires," Brian Collins, Earth Fire Alliance executive director, said. "We don't know when and where wildfires start [and] how they move across the landscape and impact us. So we looked at 'Can we address this from space?'"
FireSat has the ability to detect low-intensity fires, including ones as small as a classroom. Once fully operational, the satellites will scan Earth's most fire-prone regions every 20 minutes, something the group said will enable unprecedented detection, monitoring and characterization.
This will be helpful when tracking grass fires and rangeland fires that are common in Texas, Collins said, adding that modern wildfires are fast and intense with factors like drought causing them to move even faster.
This means officials and the public have to make decisions, such as whether to evacuate, at a faster pace as well.
"That's why data is extremely important to us and the fire departments," Collins said. "When you're making a decision in the face of uncertainty, there are critical things you need to know to make that decision. ... the more information you have on really what's happening, the better you can inform the public."
Collins said FireSat should support, rather than replace, already established ways of detecting and suppressing wildfires, like ground-based cameras and targeted tactical aircraft.
UTILIZING IT IN TEXAS
Texas A&M Forest Service is one of the early adopters, joining agencies in locations like California, Oregon, Australia and Portugal that will receive data and provide feedback on how the system can be improved.
"We're committed to advancing innovative, data-driven solutions that strengthen wildfire preparedness and response across Texas," Jared Karns said in an announcement about the partnership earlier this year. Karns is the Texas A&M Forest Service fire chief and division director of fire and emergency response.
"Participation in the Earth Fire Alliance Early Adopter Program enhances our ability to spot fires sooner, anticipate emerging risks, accelerate informed decision-making and better protect the people and landscapes we serve," Karns added.
There were more than 5,549 wildfires ignited in Texas in the 2025 fiscal year, according to Texas A&M Forest Service, which responded to 690 fires for 95,086 acres.
Curt Stripling, who heads the forest services' applied technology department, said this technology and information has the potential to help in multiple ways.
"We felt like the technology they were offering was something that we could really use, is forward-leaning into the direction we want to go and can provide that intelligence that we need to make faster, better-informed decisions," Stripling said.
Stripling said in addition to real-time fire monitoring, his agency is looking forward to training its own fire behavior and prediction models. The level of detail the FireSat data is collecting, including frequent monitoring of the progression and growth of the fires, will provide new insight that may improve mitigation and prevention practices.
"So down the road, we know we will be able to refine our predictions and not only look to see what's burned now, but maybe what's going to burn over the next eight hours, and look at the potential impacts of these fires and even make better decisions," Stripling said. "We are looking forward to building this database over time."
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.
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