Canada invests $72 million in satellite constellation to monitor active wildfires

Canada is investing $72 million in a satellite constellation that will better monitor active forest fires on its territory. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault speaks to reporters in Montebello, Que., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

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.

The Canadian Press