AI Satellites Have Learned to Spot Wildfires Before People Do

The United States has launched a new early wildfire detection system. The first three FireSat satellites are already in orbit. In the future, a constellation of 50 spacecraft will be able to scan the entire Earth regularly and detect a blaze as small as a beach campfire — before people see it.

FireSat uses infrared sensors and AI to look for small thermal anomalies. Its capabilities can be judged by one of the first cases: near Fresno, it detected a fire about 20 minutes before the first 911 call.

A similar technology is also operating in Russia, although for now without satellites. In the Moscow region, 147 AI cameras on cellular towers have detected 18 wildfires since the start of the year. The AI identifies the coordinates of the smoke and sends the signal to a dispatcher, significantly reducing response time.