WildFireSat e-Bulletin

Issue 4, February 2025

On this page:

• WildFireSat: Canadian Operational Mission
  • The Government of Canada invests in monitoring wildland fires from space
  • About the WildFireSat constellation
• Contact us
• Find out more

WildFireSat: Canadian Operational Mission

The Government of Canada invests in monitoring wildland fires from space

The journey to build the WildFireSat constellation started in August 2019, when the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) awarded two $1.38 million-contracts to Canadian companies Honeywell Aerospace (Cambridge, Ontario) and MDA Space (Richmond, British Columbia). These contracts were for the development of conceptual designs, the system requirements, and operational requirements for the WildFireSat mission. These contracts allowed us to validate the feasibility to build a cost-effective wildland fire monitoring system that meets the requirements of Canadian wildfire managers—the concepts proved to be feasible.

Following the successful outcomes of the concept study, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and CSA co-led a budget submission to build a wildfire monitoring system. This submission was successful and in Budget 2022, the federal government announce d $169.9 million over 11 years to the CSA, NRCan, and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to develop and operate a satellite system to monitor all active fires in Canada daily.

To define the best implementation approach for the satellite system, in early 2023, the federal government awarded three contracts to MDA Space, Earth Daily Analytics, and exactEarth Ltd. (a subsidiary of Spire Global Canada ) following an open competitive request for proposals. These companies worked collaboratively with the Government of Canada to verify that there was a viable mission concept within the allocated budget.

Following a successful outcome of this exercise, a limited request for proposals was issued in early 2024 for the build, launch, and commissioning of the WildFireSat mission.

After an open competitive procurement process, exactEarth Ltd., a subsidiary of Spire Global Canada, was awarded a contract valued at $72 million on January 20th, 2025, for the design of Canada’s WildFireSat constellation. The contract has been since assigned to Spire Global Canada following a corporate acquisition.

Launching a satellite mission specifically designed to monitor active wildland fires indicates that the Government of Canada is making investments in space infrastructure to help Canada’s fire managers deal with climate change. These important investments provide innovation in how fire intelligence is collected and aid fire management decision-making.

About the WildFireSat constellation

The WildFireSat mission is not a single satellite, but rather a constellation of seven microsatellites. Each microsatellite is about the size of a briefcase (excluding the solar panels). They will orbit the Earth from one pole to the other at 7.6 kilometres per second, which is more than 20 times the speed of sound, covering the latitudes in-between in the process. The satellites will overpass areas in late afternoon when fires are at their worst and in the early morning prior to the daily preparedness planning by fire management agencies. There is currently a gap of satellite coverage at those times of the day.

The satellites will orbit 475 kilometres above the Earth. Each satellite will contain custom-built, low-power, lightweight, thermal infrared cameras that allow us to measure the temperature, size, and locations of wildland fires. Once the data are downlinked, the information will form the basis of new and improved fire products made for Canadian fire managers. Budget 2022 included funding for five years of operation of WildFireSat. This includes sending commands to the satellites (for example, to adjust their trajectory), acquiring their data, and creating fire data products, all of which will be done by the Government of Canada. Funding to prolong the operations beyond five years will be explored as the mission progresses.

Text version

Isometric infographic showing a stylized Earth with space in the background and one satellite from the WildFireSat mission in orbit. The infographic includes the following details:
A constellation of 7 microsatellites specifically designed to monitor all active wildfires in Canada, on a daily basis.

Mission goals:

• Provide near-real-time information about fire intensity, speed, and projected path
• Contribute to information on smoke and air quality
• Generate reliable data on carbon emission
• Improve wildfire status updates for managers, especially in northern and remote areas

Benefits for Canadians:

• Prioritization of emergency response and ground operations
• Increased protection of remote communities
• Safeguarding of resources, infrastructure, and the environment
• Improved smoke and air pollution forecasts
• Safer, more informed evacuations

Credit: Canadian Space Agency

 

Contact us

For more information, send an email to wildfiresat-gardefeu@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca. To subscribe to this e-Bulletin, please include “Subscribe me to the WildFireSat e-bulletin” in the subject line of your email.