Australia s first satellite that can help detect bushfires within one minute of ignition set for launch
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SatSaturday 13
updated
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MarMarch 2021 at 5:26am
An aerial view of a Black Summer bushfire. Could this fire have been spotted and extinguished at ignition?
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Imagine a system that could detect any bushfire in Australia within minutes of ignition so firefighters could tackle the blaze before it spreads.
Last week saw an important development on the road to this future: a Queensland-based company, Fireball, announced the first purpose-built satellite for fire detection in Australia.
Scheduled for launch a year from now, the satellite is the first of a planned constellation of 24 that will monitor Australia from low Earth orbit.