TL;DR: FireSat, a Muon Space initiative, is revolutionizing wildfire detection with a constellation of over 50 satellites.
Main point:
- Real-time, high-fidelity fire data supports responders, scientists, and policymakers globally.
- Backed by Google, EDF, and the Moore Foundation, FireSat shifts wildfire management from reaction to prevention.
- Muon’s full-stack “Space-as-a-Service” model integrates hardware, software, and analytics for rapid mission execution.
- Experienced leadership from Skybox, Google X, NASA JPL, and Planet drives innovation at Muon Space.
Reimagining Wildfire Intelligence from Space
When wildfires tore through Southern California in the spring of 2025, entire towns were enveloped in smoke within hours. Low visibility grounded aerial firefighting aircraft, delaying containment efforts.
An unauthorized drone entered restricted airspace and collided with a suppression plane, halting operations entirely. Across the western U.S., emergency teams faced another fast-moving disaster without real-time, coordinated Earth intelligence to respond quickly and precisely. This isn’t just a failure of equipment, will, or effort. It’s a failure of infrastructure.
For centuries, the default strategy for wildfires has been rudimentary: find the fire, put it out. But in a world of rising temperatures and longer dry seasons, that playbook has reached its limits. Fire naturally shapes many ecosystems, and some regions now suffer from too few regular, low-intensity burns.
Without these burns, vegetation builds up into dangerous fuel. When it ignites, it can spark the megafires dominating today’s headlines. Essentially, we don’t have too much fire—we have too little of the right kind.
Addressing this imbalance requires a complete rethinking of how we monitor, understand, and manage wildfire events globally. That’s the mission behind FireSat, a dedicated satellite constellation for fire detection led by Muon Space in collaboration with the Earth Fire Alliance, a nonprofit coalition that aims to shift wildfire detection and response from emergency reaction to long-term ecological resilience and disaster prevention.
The Alliance convenes over 200 experts to help reframe how we relate to fire at a planetary scale. Their expertise includes:
- Fire science
- Forestry
- Emergency management
Google is another foundational partner, with Google Research playing a prominent role in scaling the platform’s impact.
At Google I/O 2025, Google CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted Muon Space and FireSat as key to its wildfire resilience initiative. This builds on years of Google’s product-level work that includes:
- wildfire boundary detection in Search and Maps
- release of synthetic Firebench dataset on Google Cloud for machine learning research in fire propagation
The effort is further backed by two major organizations:
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (a longtime leader in wildfire policy and land conservation)
- Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) (which brings decades of experience in environmental monitoring and climate advocacy)
At its core, FireSat believes fast, purpose-built data can unlock a strategic approach to wildfire management. FireSat delivers high‑fidelity insights across every stage of a fire’s lifecycle to equip:
- Frontline responders with real-time situational awareness
- Scientists with data for fire behavior and ecosystem research
- Policymakers with tools to guide prevention and recovery strategies
We discussed this in more detail with a panel of experts at our 2025 Space Capital Summit. At full capacity, the FireSat constellation will consist of more than 50 satellites. Each satellite will carry advanced six-band infrared sensors for wildfire detection. Each will also have state-of-the-art RF capabilities.
The system will scan every point on Earth every 20 minutes. It will scan wildfire zones every nine minutes. It will track fires in near real time. It will capture fire movement, intensity, and growth with five-meter resolution across all terrains.
This level of fidelity enables a fundamental shift in strategy. Modern wildfire response tools are advancing fast. Autonomous drones scout burn zones.
AI models forecast fire spread. Robotic systems cut firebreaks. Smart tankers drop water with precision. IoT ground sensors track fire conditions. None of these tools works well alone.
Without a trusted high-cadence Earth intelligence layer, response stays fragmented and slow. This layer must guide where, when, and how to deploy assets. Fires in low-risk areas should burn under control. This supports long-term ecological health instead of default extinguishing.
FireSat fills all this gap. It acts as both the overwatch and connective tissue for a new class of wildfire operations:
- Distributed
- Intelligent
- Globally scalable
Its AI-driven analytics engine constantly analyzes new satellite images. It compares them with thousands of past observations. The system blends real-time weather and terrain data to identify and flag new ignition points fast.
Clear visibility into fast-spreading fires, high-intensity burns, and threats to space infrastructure lets response teams act faster and smarter. This lets teams prioritize response actions precisely.
It shows a change from putting out fires to managing them using data.
This technology supports emergency response. It also helps researchers study fire patterns. Land managers use it to plan controlled burns. Policymakers rely on it to design long-term climate strategies advise on how to prevent natural disasters.
The Right Team for the Hardest Missions
FireSat is a leap forward in reframing how we observe and manage one of the most complex environmental threats. Building such an advanced system requires a rare mix of vision, deep technical skill, and flawless execution. This team has already built and scaled world-class satellite systems. They understand exactly what it takes to turn ambitious space concepts into reality.
Jonny Dyer leads Muon Space as CEO and Co-Founder. His career spans some of the most consequential Earth observation (EO) milestones of the past two decades. As Chief Engineer at Skybox Imaging, Jonny was part of the Stanford dorm-room team that challenged a major belief in space infrastructure.
Many assumed high-quality orbital imaging required billion-dollar spacecraft. Skybox proved them wrong.
In the early 2010s, a few legacy providers dominated the EO industry. Their large, exquisite satellites operated on decade-long timelines and Cold War-era budgets. Skybox’s ambition wasn’t just to build smaller satellites, it was to make space data faster, cheaper, and more useful.
This approach solves the challenge of orbital imaging by using:
- commercial-grade camera design
- software-defined systems
- consumer electronics principles
They launched their first satellite, SkySat-1, in November 2013. It was the first smallest satellite in history to deliver sub-meter, high-resolution video from space. It could capture 90-second clips at 30 frames per second from a platform built and launched in months, not years.
Skybox’s success culminated in a $500M acquisition by Google in 2014. This formed the basis for its satellite imagery division. Skybox’s fast-iterate, full-stack philosophy made orbit and made history.
Even Planet Labs, whose early Dove satellites faced challenges, eventually acquired the SkySats from Google. They use SkySats to augment their capabilities with higher-resolution data.
But for Jonny, the experience revealed something more. Building a technically excellent satellite wasn’t enough if users couldn’t readily interpret or act on the data. Skybox proved what was technically possible.
However, integrating data into real-world decision-making remained a downstream challenge. In EO, the hard part isn’t just sensing, it’s turning that sensing into timely, meaningful insight.
The realization stayed with him, growing sharper over time. After leading hardware and autonomy efforts at Lyft, Jonny returned to the space sector with a strong conviction.
He believed engineers need to build EO systems around the mission, not just the sensing capabilities. In many EO programs, engineers build the satellite first and figure out what it’s good for later. The result is a culture of chasing throughput, novelty, and resolution arms races.
In truly mission-critical applications that approach falls short, whether it’s for:
- climate tracking
- wildfire intelligence
- national defense
Stakeholders need the right measurements, at the right cadence, delivered through the right infrastructure. That means designing the mission from first principles, with the end-user at the center.
It also means closing the loop between sensing, analysis, and action. It’s not about designing spacecraft, but end-to-end systems. Muon Space embodied that philosophy from day one. The founding team, with deep, cross-domain experience, shares that mindset.
Pascal Stang, Muon’s CTO, previously led engineering for Google X’s Project Loon. He developed high-altitude platforms for global internet delivery. He later directed autonomy efforts at Lyft’s self-driving division.
Paul Day, Muon’s VP of Spacecraft Production, built the original Skybox spacecraft. He also led satellite production at Terra Bella and Planet. He also played a key role in developing Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature.
Reuben Rohrschneider, Chief Mission Architect, was formerly Chief Engineer for Ball Aerospace’s MethaneSAT mission. He brings deep expertise in satellite instrumentation and climate sensing.
Dr. Dan McCleese, Muon’s Chief Scientist anchors the company’s scientific vision. He previously served as Chief Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. McCleese is a veteran of several planetary missions, including the Mars Climate Sounder. He brings scientific rigor and policy expertise to Muon’s climate and environmental programs.
Guiding the company’s growth is Greg Smirin, Muon’s President. He’s a veteran startup operator who has helped scale multiple companies, including several that went public.
Muon has grown to a team of more than 100 experts. They come from top aerospace, autonomy, climate science, and national security organizations. That depth of experience sparked their evolution into a full-capability organization. They’re a mission design leader, a systems engineering powerhouse, with deep fluency across orbital and ground infrastructure.
A Full-Stack Platform for the Earth Intelligence Era
Providing real-time, actionable Earth intelligence requires rethinking satellite infrastructure. It must shift from isolated components to tightly integrated systems that operate at the speed of software.
Traditional providers either build spacecraft or sell data. Muon takes a different approach with a vertically integrated architecture. It covers simulation, spacecraft, middleware, sensing, control, and use‑case‑specific analytics.
This end‑to‑end model, called Space‑as‑a‑Service, runs on a modular technology stack. The design supports rapid deployment, seamless integration, and ongoing mission optimization.
MuSim: Digital Twin for Mission Design
Every mission begins in MuSim, Muon’s proprietary digital twin environment. It models orbital dynamics, spacecraft behavior, instrument performance, cloud connectivity, and latency across a full mission timeline.
This allows teams to simulate thousands of design variations before building to shape the right system from the outset. It helps by:
- surfacing tradeoffs
- de-risking edge cases
- co-iterating with users
This simulation-first approach is what enables Muon to move fast without cutting corners. Muon has fielded three spacecraft generations in only three years. Each revision builds on thousands of system‑level design hours completed in MuSim.
MuSat + MuCore: Modular Spacecraft and Software-Defined Sensing
At the hardware layer, MuSat is Muon’s configurable spacecraft platform. It supports missions from 100-kilogram climate monitors to kilowatt-class systems tailored for national security. Its modular design reuses and reconfigures core components across mission classes. This preserves flexibility while maintaining fast build timelines and consistent manufacturing.
Powering these platforms is MuCore, a software-defined instrument controller capable of high-throughput electromagnetic data capture across modalities, including:
- optical
- IR
- RF
- hyperspectral
- And more
MuCore not just to collects data, but processes and routes it with real-time adaptability. Together, MuSat and MuCore form the physical and digital foundation of Muon’s in-orbit stack. Their system is scalable, reconfigurable, and built for mission diversity.
MuOS: Middleware for Seamless Space-to-Cloud Operations
Sitting between spacecraft and users is MuOS, Muon’s cloud-native middleware. It functions as a software-defined network layer, managing inter-satellite coordination, ground station access, data routing, and tasking.
MuOS removes manual integration bottlenecks that slow legacy missions. It replaces them with software primitives that scale automatically with mission complexity. This layer transforms spacecraft from passive sensors into intelligent edge nodes. They can route, prioritize, and communicate in real time across a global operational mesh.
MuDash: Command and Control for the Platform Era
On the user-facing side, MuDash provides a modern, browser-accessible interface for mission operations. Through MuDash, operators can schedule tasking, monitor system health, issue software updates, and access telemetry in real time.
More than a dashboard, MuDash removes the complexity of spacecraft control and gives users direct access to system behavior through GUI or API. This is critical to Muon’s space-as-a-service promise. It puts space infrastructure in the hands of those who need it, without requiring them to manage daily satellite operators.
What makes this stack of technology powerful isn’t just modularity—it’s the feedback loop. Data from MuDash flows into MuSim to refine future system designs. MuCore telemetry informs in-orbit performance tuning.
MuOS enables constellations to act not as independent assets, but as a coordinated, software-defined sensor web. Because Muon owns the full stack, iteration can occur across the entire lifecycle. Hardware evolves with software.
They don’t treat missions as one-off programs, but as part of a continuously improving product pipeline. Muon understands that accelerating impact isn’t just about building and launching satellites quickly. It’s about getting the foundation right to allow real-time, operational understanding of our planet at the scale the world requires. It’s a blueprint for EO, and a new generation of intelligent, adaptable orbital systems built for resilience.
Executing at the Speed of Orbit, for a Smarter Planet and Beyond
The journey to FireSat’s operational status illustrates Muon’s ability to move with urgency and precision. Muon had conceptual formation studies by Google and EDF in 2021‑2022. After, Muon won a $42M Phase I contract with the Earth Fire Alliance in 2024 to deploy the constellation. The first satellite, FireSat-0, launched in early 2025 and has since entered healthy on-orbit operations.
It is currently undergoing commissioning, with initial data expected soon and deliveries to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). A major Phase II expansion is already in planning, with a substantial increase in satellite count and scope. While FireSat may be Muon’s most visible program to date, it is far from the company’s only proof point.
In just a few years, Muon has quietly built a track record of delivering high-performance full-stack satellite platforms for an increasingly diverse set of customers across:
- national security
- climate monitoring
- next-generation communications
One of the most prominent examples is the partnership with Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). Muon was selected to build the first three satellites for SNC’s Vindlér RF sensing constellation. Announced in mid-2024, the program is expected to expand to more than twenty spacecraft. It reflects growing trust in Muon’s ability to deliver end-to-end space systems that meet specialized operational needs.
That same approach is gaining traction across defense. In May 2025, Muon was awarded a Stage II contract with the NRO to validate the on-orbit performance of its electro-optical and infrared systems. The mission emphasizes persistent coverage and rapid revisit, capabilities enabled by Muon’s taskable, vertically integrated architecture.
Muon also secured key defense awards:
- A $2.9M SBIR Phase II contract from the U.S. Space Force to advance multispectral cloud and weather imaging
- A 2023 Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) award for realtime space weather monitoring
On the commercial side, Muon’s technology is in high demand for new sensing applications.
- In 2023, Muon launched a joint mission with Hydrosat.
- The mission integrated a thermal infrared sensor for agricultural and climate analytics.
Muon has expanded its stack with over a dozen projects. These projects support:
- Hyperspectral sensing
- SAR imaging
- Other advanced modalities
This proves the flexibility of Muon’s fullstack approach. These missions are built on the Halo platform.
In late 2024, Muon secured a $57M Series B and passed $100M in Haloclass contracts.
As more organizations rely on space for real-time awareness in climate, security, and global connectivity, speed, precision, and full control have become essential. In this new landscape, Muon has become the partner of choice for missions that cannot afford to fail.
Clients can start from scratch or bring advanced payloads. Muon handles the rest. While Earth observation remains the core, the same integrated stack also powers:
- Spacebased compute
- Resilient communications
- Precision timing
- Directtodevice IoT
Sensors may evolve. Form factors may shift. But the principle stays the same:
- Design for maximum mission alignment
- Build with user intent
- Deliver reliable systems that perform as expected
This vision defines the future of trust and performance in space. At Space Capital, we are proud to have supported this exceptional team since day one.
