What Happened?

Two NASA satellites that have tracked wildfires from space for years are expected to go dark by late 2026 or early 2027. The Aqua and Terra satellites have long fed fire managers critical data about where fires burn, how fast they spread, and how much smoke they produce. Their coming shutdown is forcing a transition to newer systems at a moment when Congress is pushing for faster, more detailed wildfire detection.

A new report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the nonpartisan agency that does research for Congress, maps out what the U.S. currently has in orbit, what it is losing, and what gaps remain.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

It feeds the data that emergency managers use to issue evacuation orders, route firefighting aircraft, and warn communities about smoke.

Right now, several federal agencies run overlapping satellite networks for this purpose:

  • The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates geostationary satellites that scan Earth every 60 seconds and deliver smoke and heat data within one to three hours
  • NOAA's polar-orbiting fleet passes over any given spot twice a day and can detect small, low-temperature fires at 375-meter resolution, roughly the size of three football fields
  • The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) runs the Landsat program, which captures detailed surface imagery used to assess fire damage

When Aqua and Terra go offline, some of that coverage shrinks. The question Congress faces is whether to fund replacements fast enough to avoid a gap in that data.

Both Sides, Now

Supporters of expanded satellite investment point to a series of bills already introduced in Congress: H.R. 527, H.R. 753, H.R. 5782, and S. 91 all seek to improve satellite observations to build U.S. resilience to wildfires, while S. 306 and S. 3923 would direct NOAA to fill fire weather data gaps by buying data from commercial providers.

NOAA has already taken a step in that direction, signing a $2.51 million contract with a California-based company to purchase commercial satellite imagery through a Wildfire Imagery Pilot program.

Critics of recent budget decisions note two specific cutbacks. The current administration discontinued procurement of a lightning mapper for NOAA's next-generation satellite, despite lightning being a common cause of wildfires. It also scaled back the Landsat Next mission from a three-satellite constellation to a single satellite called Landsat 10, which the CRS report says would reduce how often the system can image the same location.

What Happens Next?

Two future missions could eventually close the gap. NOAA's GeoXO satellite, planned for launch in 2034, would include an imager capable of detecting fires roughly one-quarter the size of what current systems can see. NASA and USGS are also developing a follow-on Landsat mission with advanced spectral capabilities, targeted for launch in 2031.

Both are years away. Congress must decide whether to fund stopgap measures, expand commercial data purchases, or accept reduced coverage in the interim. No vote on any of the wildfire satellite bills is currently scheduled.

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