SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 9 October 2025 — FireSat has been selected as one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025! 

Recognized in the Aerospace category, FireSat joins a collection of the world’s most groundbreaking inventions curated by TIME editors. Selected based on criteria such as originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact, this honor is a testament to the many organizations and individuals who have helped realize the FireSat vision, and comes following a series of significant milestones for the program.

Earth Fire Alliance is honored to share this award with our partners, including Muon Space, Google, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Minderoo Foundation, and the individual firefighters, scientists, and funders that have each played a critical role in advancing the program from concept to reality to address the global wildfire challenge.

In the aerospace category, FireSat joins other notable programs such as Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Read TIME’s FireSat profile here.

In March 2025, the FireSat Protoflight launched and has since validated the end-to-end performance of the satellite architecture, including its advanced multispectral electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) payload, processing, and data delivery infrastructure. The Protoflight spacecraft is currently collecting essential data on early wildfire detection and tracking fire progression, laying the groundwork for the full FireSat constellation of 50+ satellites by 2030.

Using Protoflight data, Earth Fire Alliance is working with nine leading fire agencies across three continents via its Early Adopter Program to refine data products and determine the most efficient, effective way to deliver operational FireSat data when the first three operational FireSats launch in 2026. The goal is accessible, seamless integration of FireSat data into as many existing end user applications as possible.

Escalating megafires are a crisis without borders, threatening ecosystems, communities, and economies globally. As wildfires around the globe become more frequent, fast-moving, destructive, and unpredictable, FireSat is filling a critical need for high-quality, near real-time data that can transform the way the world detects, responds to, understands, and prevents and mitigates wildfires.

Once fully deployed, the FireSat constellation will monitor every point on Earth every 20 minutes or less. With each new satellite deployed, FireSat moves closer to delivering an unprecedented global dataset that will reshape humanity’s relationship with wildfire and save lives, property, and irreplaceable ecosystems worldwide.

The full list of TIME Best Invention 2025 winners can be found here. Look out for a special print issue featuring FireSat and the rest of the winners on newsstands December 12.