SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The first satellite system specifically made to detect wildfire threats in California and across the globe will go online later this year following Tuesday’s SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Governor Gavin Newsom announced. Among the 81 payloads aboard the rocket were three FireSat wildfire detection satellites built by Mountain View-based Muon Space.
The satellites carry “proven” technology designed to “detect early-stage wildfires as small as 5×5 meters,” according to Christopher Van Arsdale, climate and energy lead at Google Research, which is an initiative partner.
The newly orbiting satellites will undergo a three-month commissioning and calibration period before they start delivering operational wildfire detection data, Newsom’s office said. They are also only the first of more than 50 wildfire detection satellites planned to orbit Earth by 2030…