Canada invests $72 million on satellite constellation to monitor active wildfires
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/02/2025 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
LONGUEUIL, Que. – Canada is investing $72 million on a novel satellite constellation that will monitor active forest fires across the country, the Canadian Space Agency announced Friday.
Consisting of seven satellites that will enter orbit in 2029, the WildFireSat program will collect daily data on active forest fires, allowing officials to determine which blazes are the most dangerous and predict their behaviour. That information will help officials make better use of firefighters and equipment, and ultimately save lives, Lisa Campbell, Canadian Space Agency president, told reporters at the agency’s headquarters on Montreal’s South Shore.
“A small number of fires are responsible for 90 per cent of the damage,” Campbell said.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the damage caused by wildfires will almost certainly increase with climate change.
“If we go back about fifteen years, on average, the (annual) costs of climate change in Canada were about $200 million. In 2024, it was $8 billion — it is exponential — and there are some studies that estimate that in the coming years, it could increase to $25 billion,” the minister said.
The money will go to Ontario-based Spire Global Canada, which will develop the satellite constellation. Infrared sensors will be installed on the satellites to produce thermal imaging, allowing officials to assess the intensity of the fires and track their progress.
The space agency said the WildFireSat mission is the first program developed by a country to monitor wildfires from space, adding that the project is drawing interest from other countries.
The data will also be useful for the Canadian Air Quality Health Index, environmental emergency response modelling, air navigation visibility, wildfire smoke forecasts and air quality health impact modelling. Campbell said the plan is to make sure the data collected is open and available to all Canadians.
The satellites will be operational three months after their launch in 2029. Campbell said the idea behind the mission came from civil servants who recognized that there will never be enough firefighters to handle the country’s increasingly aggressive fire seasons.
Gaining a perspective from space will allow resources on the ground to be more effective, Campbell said.
The space agency says the amount of forest burned by wildfire is projected to double in the coming decades due to longer wildfire seasons, increased drought conditions and extreme weather.
The satellites are expected to save the federal government between $1 billion and $5 billion during the program’s first five years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025.
