These new satellites are designed to spot wildfires before they spread |
These new satellites are designed to spot wildfires before they spread
With a $26 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund, FireSat is launching three satellites specifically made to track fires. By 2030, the network will include 50, visiting every point on the planet every 20 minutes.
[Images: Earth Fire Alliance and Muon Space]
When a grass fire started by the side of an Oregon road last summer, it covered just half an acre—too small to show up on typical satellites. But it was spotted by a new prototype from FireSat, a satellite program designed specifically to detect wildfires. Fire agencies weren’t using the system at the time, but once fully operational, it could send alerts before fires spiral out of control.
Now, with a $26 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund that builds on earlier support from Google.org and........