Less than three months into 2025, more than 9,000 wildfires have burned 269,986 acres across the United States. From coastal communities like California's Pacific Palisades to historic towns in central Oklahoma,

Google Research announced the first satellite of its wildfire detection satellite network – FireSat. It is a collaboration between Google Research and several other organizations like Muon Space, Earth Fire Alliance and the Moore Foundation.

People and planes often flag wildfires before satellites do, but satellites can play a critical role when it comes to monitoring more rural areas. And wildfires have become more widespread as climate change creates more hot and arid conditions in parts of the world including California, where Google is headquartered.