Three FireSat satellites launched on SpaceX rideshare to expand wildfire-detection network

Three FireSat satellites launched Tuesday aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Transporter-17 rideshare mission, marking the next step in an effort to build a dedicated satellite network for earlier wildfire detection.

The satellites are part of FireSat, a program led by the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance and supported by Google Research and Google.org. Backers say the system is designed to help fire agencies spot small fires sooner and get data to responders faster than is typically possible with broader Earth-observation systems not built specifically for wildfire monitoring.

The mission lifted off July 7 at 07:12 UTC — 3:12 a.m. EDT and 12:12 a.m. PDT — from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Transporter-17 carried 81 payloads, and SpaceX later confirmed deployment of all of them.

Earth Fire Alliance and its partners describe the spacecraft launched Tuesday as the first three operational FireSats. But that does not mean they are immediately ready to provide service to end users. Rideshare payloads typically take days or weeks after deployment to commission, test systems in orbit and begin routine operations.

The launch is significant because FireSat already had one piece of hardware in orbit: a prototype launched in March 2025. According to program materials, that earlier satellite has been used to validate the system architecture and collect sample data. The new spacecraft move the project beyond the prototype phase and toward an operational constellation intended for fire-response use.

Muon Space built the satellites, while Earth Fire Alliance is coordinating the broader program. Google said the expanded FireSat network uses Google AI to help fire agencies detect early-stage wildfires.

Program materials from Earth Fire Alliance and Google say FireSat is designed to detect fires as small as 5 by 5 meters, though that remains a stated program goal rather than independently verified operational performance. The organizations also say the planned full constellation will include about 50 satellites, with a target of providing global updates as frequently as every 20 minutes once fully deployed.

Earth Fire Alliance says FireSat is intended to produce several kinds of wildfire data, including hotspot identification, fire perimeter, fire progression and fire radiative power, a measure of the energy a fire is emitting. The group says those data products will be made available to fire agencies, academic researchers and nongovernmental organizations under noncommercial licenses starting in 2027.

The project has also drawn philanthropic backing as it moves toward operations. Earth Fire Alliance said June 17 that a $26 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund would help fund the launch and operations of the first three operational FireSats and support adoption in the Amazon Basin.

“At the Bezos Earth Fund, we’re focused on supporting innovation that helps solve some of the hardest challenges in climate and nature, and breakthrough technology that addresses the challenges with uncontrolled wildfires is an important area that our funding can help move forward, faster,” Tom Taylor, president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, said in the June 17 announcement.

For FireSat’s backers, Tuesday’s launch is the clearest sign yet that the project is shifting from concept to buildout — with the aim of giving fire agencies earlier warning before small ignitions become far larger disasters.