Objectives of the service
Wildfires are becoming faster, larger, and harder to manage, while existing monitoring tools often deliver information several hours after satellite acquisition. This delay limits the ability of emergency services, infrastructure managers, and insurers to coordinate resources, assess impacts, and adapt their response as fires evolve.
FireTrack addresses this gap by providing frequent, high-resolution wildfire perimeter with very low delivery delay. The service processes satellite imagery directly on board the spacecraft and transmits ready-to-use fire maps to the ground shortly after acquisition. These products are made available through the existing wildfire monitoring platform FireWatch, ensuring immediate integration into operational workflows.
The activity aims to design, deploy, and demonstrate a prototype service capable of delivering fire information in less than one hour after observation (target : 15min), and to validate its relevance with operational users. The project focuses on technical integration, operational performance, and user feedback, ensuring the service responds to real needs and can be scaled into an operational offering after the demonstration phase.
Users and their needs
In its current pilot phase, FireTrack targets operational users directly involved in wildfire management and risk mitigation in France. Primary users are national civil protection authorities and crisis coordination centres, as well as regional and local fire and rescue services responsible for on-the-ground response. These organisations require timely, reliable information to coordinate resources, monitor fire evolution, and adapt response strategies during rapidly changing situations.
The service also targets public and private infrastructure operators, such as energy, transport, and industrial asset managers, who need up-to-date visibility on wildfire proximity and potential impacts on critical assets. In addition, insurance and risk management organisations are involved as users, relying on near-real-time fire information to support damage assessment, claims management, and communication with affected clients.
Across all user groups, common needs include very fast access to current fire perimeters with sufficient spatial detail to distinguish active fronts from unaffected areas, A key challenge for the project is to deliver this information with minimal delay while ensuring reliability, ease of use, and seamless integration into existing operational systems.
Service/ system concept
FireTrack provides users with near-real-time maps showing wildfire perimeters, active fire zones, and affected areas. These maps can be viewed through an online interface or automatically integrated into existing crisis management systems. When deployed, users gain the ability to track wildfire evolution throughout the day and night, supporting faster and better-informed decisions.
A satellite observes an area affected by a wildfire. Instead of sending raw images to the ground for later processing, the satellite analyses the images directly in space and identifies fire-related information. The processed results are then transmitted to the ground and delivered to users within minutes.
Space Added Value
FireTrack relies on Earth observation satellites equipped with advanced optical and infrared sensors, combined with on-board computing and space-to-space data transmission capabilities. These space assets allow data to be processed directly in orbit, eliminating the long delays associated with traditional downlink and ground processing.
Using space assets provides several advantages over existing methods such as aerial surveillance, drones, or conventional satellite services. Satellites offer wide-area coverage independent of local access, airspace restrictions, or ground conditions. They can monitor remote or inaccessible areas and provide consistent information across large territories.
The combination of on-board processing and rapid data transmission significantly reduces delivery time, enabling near-real-time monitoring that airborne or ground-based systems cannot achieve at scale or at comparable cost. Space-based monitoring also supports continuous operations, which are critical during prolonged wildfire events.
Current Status
The project formally started with a kick-off meeting held on 8 January 2025. Since then, the team has worked closely with French civil protection stakeholders to refine how the service should operate in real emergency situations. This included dedicated interviews with national crisis coordination authorities and wildfire management experts to consolidate operational needs and constraints.
In parallel, the technical partners agreed on the overall structure of the system and how the different components will interact. Initial technical studies were also carried out to test wildfire mapping methods using high-resolution satellite data.
Next steps include finalising the system design, preparing verification activities, testing algorithms with satellite sample data, and launching market adoption work with operational stakeholders.
