Three months after Muon Space launched its FireSat Protoflight satellite, the spacecraft's first images have been released.
FireSat is the first in a proposed constellation of more than 50 satellites that Muon Space hopes to use to monitor and detect wildfires. These first images were taken from low-Earth orbit, as the satellite used its multi-band infrared (IR) instrument to scan the landscape for specific heat signatures that could be indicative of wildfires.
The FireSat Protoflight was launched on March 14 from Vandenberg Space Force Base as part of SpaceX's Transporter 13 mission. Muon Space plans to launch the first block of three more FireSat satellites in 2026, with the completed constellation fully operational by 2030.
Muon Space plans for the constellation to be able to scan every point on Earth every 20 minutes, with more wildfire prone areas being scanned more frequently.
The FireSat constellation was born from a collaboration between Muon Space and the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance to provide more in depth data on wildfires for policymakers, first responders, and affected communities to try to better mitigate the threats of wildfires. The team hopes that their high-resolution images from the satellites can help address the gap in space-based wildfire detection.
Source: www.space.com
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