Latest news with #EarthFireAlliance
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Muon Space Releases First Light Images from FireSat Protoflight
Advanced multispectral infrared payload demonstrates exceptional capabilities in inaugural on-orbit demonstration MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Muon Space, a leading provider of end-to-end space systems specializing in mission-optimized satellite constellations, today released the first light images from its FireSat Protoflight, marking a significant milestone in the development of the world's first dedicated wildfire detection and monitoring constellation. The images, captured by Muon's state-of-the-art six-channel multispectral infrared (IR) instrument, demonstrate the exceptional capabilities of this revolutionary IR technology for detecting and monitoring thermal activities. Launched on March 14th aboard SpaceX's Transporter-13 mission, the FireSat constellation is a collaboration between Muon and the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance to enhance global wildfire response by delivering actionable data to first responders, policymakers, and communities facing escalating wildfire threats. The satellite's six-channel multispectral IR instrument – designed and built in-house – places Muon among a select group of commercial companies capable of developing and operating advanced space-based thermal sensors. Capturing IR imagery validates both the instrument and Muon's vertically integrated satellite platform. "The FireSat first light images demonstrate Muon's approach to building mission-optimized satellites including purpose-built instruments," said Jonny Dyer, CEO of Muon Space. "I'm ecstatic with both the speed at which we moved from FireSat mission formulation to an orbit demonstration and the quality of the data that we are now collecting." Captured in June 2025 using FireSat Protoflight's multispectral infrared sensors, our first imagery set reveals urban heat islands, airport runway activity, and water temperature variations in Sydney, Australia; lava fountains at Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano; and gas flares at Libya's Sarir oil field complex. "These first light images confirm that our IR sensors are operating as designed and collecting high-quality data," said Dan McCleese, Chief Scientist of Muon Space. "Infrared imaging with this quality is one of the most technically demanding domains in remote sensing, and we're proud to be among the few commercial players advancing this capability in orbit." A New Layer of Intelligence for Wildfire Detection, Tracking, and Response FireSat is capable of multispectral imaging across the visible, near-infrared, short-, mid- and long-wave infrared bands simultaneously. High-fidelity IR data is essential for detecting wildfires in their early stages, monitoring fire dynamics, and tracking other thermal anomalies. FireSat addresses a longstanding gap in space-based wildfire monitoring by delivering persistent, high-resolution, actionable intelligence to government and commercial users. Distinguished by its high-dynamic range (HDR) multispectral IR instrument, the FireSat Constellation is uniquely equipped to differentiate genuine wildfire events from false positives and enhance the accuracy and reliability of wildfire detection and assessment of fire intensity. The FireSat constellation will operate in LEO with an observation swath width of 1,500 km and an nadir ground sample distance of 50m. The instrument's resolution, sensitivity and large dynamic range enable it to detect small cool fires 5x5 meters while also imaging without saturation for hot intense fires. As the demonstration mission for a planned 50+ satellite constellation, FireSat Protoflight will soon begin providing high-resolution thermal infrared data to meet growing demand across government, commercial, and environmental sectors. The full constellation will deliver global coverage, with each point on Earth observed every 20 minutes and key wildfire-prone regions benefiting from more frequent observations. The FireSat initiative is led by the Earth Fire Alliance and supported by Google Research, along with leading NGOs and philanthropic organizations including the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Environmental Defense Fund. This milestone builds on Muon's earlier announcement that FireSat was successfully deployed and communicating in orbit. The company remains on track to launch the first block of three additional FireSat satellites in 2026, with full operational FireSat constellation capacity targeted for 2030. About Muon Space Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end space systems company that designs, builds, and operates mission-optimized satellite constellations to deliver critical data and enable real-time compute and decision-making in space. Its proprietary technology stack, Halo™, integrates advanced spacecraft platforms, robust payload integration and management, and a powerful software-defined orchestration layer to enable high-performance capabilities at unprecedented speed – from concept to orbit. With state-of-the-art production facilities in Silicon Valley and a growing track record of national security and commercial customers, Muon Space is redefining how critical Earth intelligence is delivered from space. For more information on Muon Space, visit: About Earth Fire Alliance Earth Fire Alliance is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation founded in 2024 on the belief that high-fidelity data, accessible on a global scale, will transform humanity's collective approach and relationship to fire. The Alliance shares a vision of expanding wildfire focus and funding from reactive suppression to proactive stewardship that includes better informed real-time decisions on the ground, data-driven resilience initiatives, and improved understanding about the positive and negative role of fire on the landscape. Committed to delivering transformative real-time data from all wildfires on Earth through user-driven technology and radical collaboration, Earth Fire Alliance champions the FireSat satellite constellation. FireSat will deliver unprecedented data about where fires are and how fast they're moving to frontline fire responders around the globe. Learn more about the Alliance, FireSat, and how to get involved or support at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Muon Space Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
WIRED
24-06-2025
- Science
- WIRED
Google Wants to Get Better at Spotting Wildfires From Space
Jun 24, 2025 5:30 AM A partnership with the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance and satellite manufacturer Muon Space is giving Google a better shot at tracking wildfires—and using AI to process all the data being collected. Courtesy of EarthFireAlliance Google wants to launch a battalion of satellites into orbit around the Earth to monitor fires on the ground in real time, then collect all that photographic data and use AI to better identify fires in their critical early stages. Fire Sat is a partnership between Google, the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance, and the satellite builder Muon Space. The collaborative effort was announced in 2024 with the goal of launching satellites specifically designed to spot wildfires. The first satellite of the proposed 50-plus strong constellation launched in March 2025. The group hopes to get the full constellation up there by 2029. Then, the satellites will be able to orbit the Earth, snapping images of every fire-prone place on the globe. The photos would be captured about 15 minutes apart, enough to catch a small fire before it grows too big, or to observe the progress of an active information about a fire's location could then be beamed to data analysts and machine intelligence systems on the ground more quickly than ever. 'We want to make sure that we can learn fast to be able to detect and track fires,' Brian Collins, the executive director of the Earth Fire Alliance, says. 'We want to transform the way the world and the United States looks at fire.' This group's effort isn't the only mission to put fire-tracking satellites into orbit right now. The Canadian WildfireSat program is a government-funded effort to launch its own fire-specific satellites dedicated to monitoring blazes across the country. In the 2025 fire season so far, nearly 9 million acres have already burned in the fires active in Canada. But the launch of Canada's fire satellites is still a ways off, slated for launch in 2029. Google wants to get into space more quickly—and use its AI chops to speed up the process of figuring out when fires start. Satellites already in orbit have been snapping pics of wildfires for years. Google has incorporated data collected by NOAA weather satellites to show wildfire boundaries and evacuation zones in Maps. But detecting fires from space—especially small ones or fires that are just starting—can be tricky. Satellites currently in orbit tend to detect heat with microbolometer sensors, thermal imaging chips that, unlike other thermal cameras, don't require cooling. The problem with that, says Christopher Van Arsdale, a researcher at Google, is that microbolometer images can have a narrow field of view and come back with grainier, lower-resolution images. That can make detecting fires in their earlier stages hard, because lots of heat signatures on the ground—hot roofs or even light reflected off water surfaces—can look very similar to wildfires to a thermal camera. 'If you look at a noisy picture, everything kind of looks like a tiny fire,' Van Arsdale says. 'So you have to really know what you're looking at for that to be useful. You need these very high-fidelity pictures in order to actually do a good job with detection.' Google and Muon's fire satellites are outfitted with image-capture equipment that works to solve this problem. They will take photos of the same spot using two different types of cameras—one more standard camera that covers visible and short wave infrared and one cryo-cooled thermal camera that takes shots in higher resolution than a traditional microbolometer. Then those images are sent to data centers where Google's computer vision and machine intelligence prowess comes into play. 'The whole job of the constellation after it collects the data is really to funnel it to a data center where we can take the imagery and analyze it to understand if what we're looking at is likely a fire or a false positive,' Van Arsdale says. 'Fundamentally, the main problem with all of these systems for early detection is separating out false positives.' By cross-referencing the different photo types and collecting millions of pixels of imagery over time, Google is hoping its AI system will be able to reliably see the forest fire for the trees. The platform can leverage all the imagery from the satellites, collate the different image types, then analyze and compare that information to historical data to look for trends that typically signal the beginnings of a fire. Test Flight A SpaceX rocket blasts the first of the Fire Sat missions into space. Courtesy of SpaceX There is one Fire Sat satellite in orbit currently circling the globe. It captures images and tests what it will take to reliably snap pics of the planet in short enough intervals to track the movements of a wildfire. Google says it plans to show off images captured by the satellite sometime this summer. The Fire Sat operation plans to launch three more satellites in early 2026, and eventually work up to its final number of 52 satellites over the course of the next few years. At full capacity, the satellites should be able to detect a fire as small as ten square meters and then collect updates on the spread every 15 minutes or so. The goal is that the window between updates is short enough to give them the types of information first responders can actually put to good use. 'With fire in particular, times are compressed so much that you have to apply technology to make a decision within the timeframe that you can impact the outcome of what's happening,' Collins says. Krystal Azelton, a senior director at the Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for sustainable space policies, says that while satellites and AI tech may provide better data, it's crucial that the data makes it into the right hands. 'The trend towards AI to assist with all of this is obviously going to produce better results, but it's not going to produce consistent results necessarily.' Azelton says. 'This is a really big positive because one of my biggest concerns about any kind of environmental monitoring from space is whoever's providing the data, how do you get the data into the end user?' Azelton says. 'There's a lot of tech solutions out there, but how do you get them into the hands of people actually using it? Van Arsdale says the goal of the Fire Sat team is to make its tracking data as accessible as possible, and it's committed to working directly with firefighting agencies to do so. 'There's this sort of fog of war associated with fires, where you don't know where they are when they start,' Van Arsdale says about trying to pitch the idea of this vast swath of data collection to firefighting officials. 'We're just going to give you a picture of everything that's going on that you could possibly care about.' Speed Run While more information is usually better in disaster situations, it isn't clear if this kind of satellite detection will be all that much faster than what currently exists. Camera networks like those deployed by AlertWildfire have been the first to spot fires all across the West Coast, including the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles this past January. There's also the fact that while Fire Sat cameras may be able to pick up a fire the moment it starts, just having that information doesn't mean firefighters will be able to mobilize and get to the blaze in time. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist who runs the blog Weather West and has long tracked wildfires, says that while satellite-enabled updates may not solve all the realities of response time, it would be useful for sharing information with people in immediate danger and keeping people informed as the fire spreads. 'It doesn't really solve the core underlying problems, but it's probably a beneficial thing to do,' Swain says. 'It does help to know exactly where a fire is as soon as possible. It unfortunately doesn't give us much of an edge under the most extreme conditions.' These Fire Sat efforts also come at a time of increased investment in the tech aimed at fighting wildfires. Namely, an uptick in private companies hoping to help build new firefighting solutions—and profit off that tech. In June, President Trump signed an executive order for a 'common sense' approach to fighting wildfires, which called for prioritizing the efforts of fire tech companies while also combining federal disaster agencies and instructing federal agencies to 'declassify historical satellite data to improve wildfire prediction and revise or eliminate rules that impede wildfire detection, prevention, and response.' That focus, along with the sweeping cuts to federal disaster programs like FEMA and the US Forest Service means that with fewer public resources to tackle the problem, private industry is moving to close those gaps. Swain cautions that while lots of this tech might be helpful, relying on private companies to solve widespread societal problems like disaster response comes with problems. 'Even if you assume the best possible motive,' Swain says. 'That this is truly in the public interest and that private companies are able to effectuate that, there's then the question of, OK, are we actually going to have access to this data in the long run, or is this going to be the equivalent of a 30-day free trial?' He points out that internet-of-things companies have gone out of business and left customers with products that no longer work, and that Google itself has a long history of killing off services. 'It's the classic tech industry challenge of continuity,' Swain says. 'We've seen this happen.' Azelton believes there will always be a need for 'a baseline of government, truly and fully public data that's out there, that's accessible to anybody and everybody that can and should be supplemented by commercial data and partnerships like this, and that they need to be designed in a way that they can be in the hands of everyone who needs them.' It's a feat that Google seems keen on facilitating, even if it isn't immediately profitable for the company. It's also easy to see this as a sort of mea culpa for Google, a company that has made a number of climate commitments, despite the fact that, like all purveyors of generative AI technology, it consumes lots and lots of energy. (In 2024, Google's emissions bumped up by 50 percent because of its generative AI efforts.) Humanity's ever increasing consumption of energy has worsened climate change, which has in turn played a part in worsening wildfires. 'If Google admits, you know, what we do harms the planet, but we're trying to find ways of stewarding as well, and these are the ways in which we're trying to be regenerative and restorative,' says Moriba K. Jah, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. 'At least having a more honest conversation about it I think would be refreshing.' In late May, Google highlighted the Fire Sat program very briefly at the end of its I/O developer conference. It was a real tonal shift, a blink-and-you-miss-it moment of environmental angst and self-congratulation after a two-hour deluge of breathless AI-fueled futurism. Maybe launching enough satellites to keep track of all the damage is an effort to atone for the vast energy AI uses. Maybe it will even work.
CNET
20-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
Google Positions FireSat to Better Identify Forest Fires from Orbit
Google is building the world's largest firewatch tower – about 100 miles tall. At Google I/O, CEO Sundar Pichai spotlighted FireSat, a project Google supports along with the Earth Fire Alliance to improve wildfire-spotting capabilities so blazes can be located and contained faster. Existing early detection satellites can pick up fires that have grown to 2-3 acres in size (roughly two football fields). Using multi-spectral imaging and AI software to compare snapshots of a location with the previous 1,000 images of the area, FireSat will be able to detect flames "as small as 270 square feet, about the size of a one-car garage", said Pichai. Currently a single prototype FireSat satellite orbits the planet in low-Earth orbit, which Pichai said updates its imaging every 12 hours. When the constellation of 50 satellites is in place over the next few years, that frequency should be reduced to every 20 minutes. "For those who live here in California and so many places around the world, so many of us know someone who has been affected by wildfires," said Pichai. "They can start suddenly and grow out of control in a matter of minutes. Speed and precision can make all the difference." Google is far from the first company to use tech for spotting wildfires. From setting up AI cameras to spot smoke to using solar-powered sensors to detect blazes to "smelling" the electric noise made by fires, everyone from tech startups to telecoms have ideas about how to harness technology to make us safer from potentially dangerous infernos -- though Google may be the only one doing it from space.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Google's new satellite network can help spot wildfires
The first FireSat satellite has launched and made a connection with Earth. The FireSat system is a collaborative effort between Google Research, Muon Space, Earth Fire Alliance, Moore Foundation, and numerous other agencies, and it has a single, deceptively simple purpose: to detect wildfires before they become too hard to contain and control. Wildfires have been a constant problem for agencies. Early detection is vital, but fires can often start in subtle ways; by the time anyone notices the growing blaze, it's too late to stop. Just take the wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year as an example. Apps have been created to crowdsource fire detection, and the traditional method of watching for wildfires is through satellite imagery. However, smoke, debris, and other obstacles make satellite imagery unreliable at best. It is often only updated every 12 hours, too. FireSat builds on existing infrastructure to create what its team calls a 'wildfire boundary map.' This system will enable people to view wildfires through services like Google Maps. FireSat utilizes AI to search for fires. The way it works is by comparing a current image of a given location with previous imagery. 'Differentiating between real fires and random 'noise' in the environment was a challenge,' Chris Van Arsdale, co-founder of FireSat, says. 'We had to determine where to draw the line between what is a real fire versus things like sensor issues or misaligned pixels.' The new model is particularly effective. Previous detection methods often only picked up on wildfires after they were a few acres in size, but FireSat is quite a bit more capable. Erica Brand, one of the project managers for FireSat, gave this example. 'One of our team members lit a barbecue and a firepit in his backyard so we could fly the plane over and test it. And the sensors were able to pick it up.' FireSat is still several years away from being fully functional, but the team believes it will be able to accomplish things no wildfire detection system has been able to before. According to Google, the full system will be able to detect a wildfire about the size of a classroom within 20 minutes. This will give response teams significantly more time to contain the blaze before it spreads to residential and commercial areas.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Muon Space Deploys FireSat Protoflight, Marking a Major Milestone in Global Wildfire Monitoring
Initial FireSat satellite is healthy, paving the way for improved real-time wildfire intelligence and future constellation expansion MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Muon Space, an end-to-end space systems provider, has successfully launched the FireSat Protoflight satellite, marking a significant milestone in the deployment of the FireSat constellation. This groundbreaking initiative aims to transform global wildfire detection, monitoring, and response. Designed and built by Muon Space—including its state-of-the-art six-channel multispectral infrared (IR) instrument—FireSat showcases the company's expertise in delivering fully integrated, mission-tailored satellite systems from concept to operation. Launched aboard SpaceX's Transporter 13 rideshare mission on March 14 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Muon Space has successfully established communications with the satellite and confirmed its operational health. "The FireSat mission exemplifies Muon Space's ability to rapidly design, build, and deploy high-performance remote sensing systems tailored to address complex, real-world challenges," said Jonny Dyer, CEO of Muon Space. "FireSat is just the beginning—we are demonstrating how purpose-built constellations can deliver transformative solutions at the speed our customers and partners require." Announced in May 2024, the FireSat Constellation is a collaboration between Muon Space and Earth Fire Alliance, combining Muon's expertise in space-based remote sensing with the Alliance's deep knowledge of wildfire management and response strategies. This partnership aims to enhance global wildfire response, management, and situational awareness by providing actionable data to first responders, policymakers, and communities facing escalating wildfire threats. Working closely with hundreds of members of the federal, state, and local fire communities, Muon Space developed the FireSat system and delivered its first satellite to orbit in just 16 months. The initiative has been supported by leading NGOs and philanthropic organizations, including Environmental Defense Fund, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and others. "Designing and building an advanced infrared instrument capable of detecting wildfires with high confidence required significant scientific and engineering innovation," said Dan McCleese, Chief Scientist of Muon Space. "This achievement underscores Muon Space's ability to push the boundaries of space-based observation, advancing not only wildfire intelligence but also a broad range of critical operational, scientific, and security applications." The planned 50+-satellite constellation will eventually provide global coverage with each point on Earth observed every 20 minutes with key wildfire-prone regions benefiting from more frequent observations. "FireSat is a game-changer for wildfire response," said Brian Collins, Executive Director of Earth Fire Alliance. "For too long, decision-makers have relied on outdated or incomplete fire data. FireSat is poised to provide persistent, high-fidelity, and detailed information that will empower end users to save more lives and structures, better protect ecosystems, and reduce economic losses." Muon is currently developing three additional satellites, which will launch in 2026. FireSat is expected to reach full operational capacity by 2030. About Muon Space Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack, Halo enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facilities in CA are optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From earth observation to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world. For more information on Muon Space, visit: About Earth Fire Alliance Earth Fire Alliance is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation founded in 2024 on the belief that high-fidelity data, accessible on a global scale, will transform humanity's collective approach and relationship to fire. The Alliance shares a vision of expanding wildfire focus and funding from reactive suppression to proactive stewardship that includes better informed real-time decisions on the ground, data-driven resilience initiatives, and improved understanding about the positive and negative role of fire on the landscape. Committed to delivering transformative real-time data from all wildfires on Earth through user-driven technology and radical collaboration, Earth Fire Alliance champions the FireSat satellite constellation. FireSat will deliver unprecedented data about where fires are and how fast they're moving to frontline fire responders around the globe. Learn more about the Alliance, FireSat, and how to get involved or support at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Muon Space Sign in to access your portfolio
