FireSat may be part of a solution to our world’s growing wildfire problem. Recent events, such as the conflagrations ravaging Los Angeles, resulted in widespread damage and enormous loss of lives and property. Spotting fires early on would allow quicker response, and with the appropriate gear, swift quelling of the flames before they became a tragic threat. Sending information to a fleet of piloted or unpiloted craft, early warnings from Firesat satellites could direct a swift response that would prevent the growth of incipient wildfires. Fifty such low-earth orbiting watchdogs would use their highly-specialized optics to focus on the beginnings of a fire, as small as 5 x 5 meters (16.4 feet x 16.4 feet). Finding Fires Earlier and With Greater Accuracy Juliet Rothenberg, Product Director of Climate AI efforts at Google Research, has helped develop the FireSat program, in response to the hurried evacuation of her home four years ago when a wildfire threatened her neighborhood. Then available satellite …
