In a bold leap forward for disaster prevention, Google is teaming up with climate tech partners to launch an ambitious satellite project called FireSat — and it could change how we fight wildfires forever.

With the rise of catastrophic burns across California, Australia, and the Amazon, early detection has become a top priority. The January wildfires in Los Angeles alone cost over $250 billion in damages. Until now, satellite technology has lagged behind, offering low-resolution imagery updated too infrequently to make a real-time difference.

Enter FireSat: an AI-driven satellite constellation designed to spot fires as small as 270 square feet — about the size of a classroom — within 20 minutes. For perspective, that’s light years ahead of current systems that often detect fires only once they’ve already consumed acres of land.

More than 50 satellites will ultimately form the FireSat network. Each is equipped with multispectral infrared cameras capable of capturing high-resolution images that allow artificial intelligence to detect actual wildfires while ignoring false alarms like factory smokestacks or barbecues.

Chris Van Arsdale, a climate project lead at Google, said one of the biggest challenges was teaching AI how to separate real fire signals from environmental “noise.” To fine-tune the system, a team member even lit a barbecue and a fire pit in his backyard while a test plane flew overhead — a quirky but crucial part of developing smarter AI sensors.

Project manager Erica Brand explained that the AI compares satellite images of the same location over time, cross-referencing it with local infrastructure and weather conditions to determine whether a fire is truly breaking out. That’s the kind of predictive power that could eventually allow alerts to be issued before disaster strikes.

The first FireSat satellite has already been launched, with the full system expected to be operational by 2030. Once complete, it won’t just offer real-time fire tracking. The satellites will also build a global database of wildfire behavior — a long-term boon to researchers, firefighters, and policy-makers alike.

Backing the mission is the Earth Fire Alliance, a nonprofit venture co-founded by Google Research and satellite manufacturer Muon Space. Google.org has also put $13 million toward launching the first satellite as part of its broader AI Collaboratives: Wildfires initiative.

The ultimate goal? A world where fire alerts come not from panicked 911 calls, but from orbiting satellites that act as a global early warning system. It’s a future that could save billions in property, countless lives, and massive swaths of natural habitat.

As the FireSat team pushes ahead, one big question remains: if this technology had existed years ago, how many fires could’ve been stopped in their tracks? And how many communities might have been spared from devastation?

For now, one thing is certain: FireSat could soon be the most powerful ally firefighters have ever had — watching from space, powered by AI, and capable of sounding the alarm before the smoke even rises.