First operational FireSat satellites reach orbit as wildfire smoke blankets North America
Final Frontier

First operational FireSat satellites reach orbit as wildfire smoke blankets North America

Three Google- and Bezos-backed spacecraft built to spot fires as small as a backyard begin a three-month checkout before feeding data to agencies in four countries.

Richard Miniter
By
First Published: July 21, 2026, 3:39 PM ET

CANADA — The first three operational satellites in the FireSat constellation reached orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on July 7, 2026. Smoke from hundreds of wildfires was spreading across Canada and the United States as the spacecraft deployed. Google Research, which helped design the system and announced the launch, said the satellites carry the same sensor architecture proven by a pilot spacecraft that reached orbit in 2025. The program calls the milestone “initial operational capability” for what Ars Technica reported is the first constellation purpose-built to detect wildfires.