18 thermal satellites launched in 18 months underscores OroraTech’s rapid deployment of the world’s largest thermal satellite network
OroraTech today announced the successful launch of FOREST-20, expanding its thermal intelligence network to 20 satellites in orbit. The mission marks the 18th thermal satellite OroraTech has launched in just 18 months, reflecting a deployment cadence that is rapidly expanding the company’s proprietary thermal observation infrastructure.
FOREST-20 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and adds morning coverage to OroraTech’s constellation. The additional capacity increases the availability of thermal observations throughout the day, enabling OroraTech to detect and understand natural and human fire activity on Earth more frequently and with lower latency. For wildfire customers, this helps shorten the time between a fire starting, its detection from space, and critical information reaching teams on the ground.
The launch is the latest in OroraTech’s continuous deployment of thermal infrastructure in orbit. Rather than relying on individual missions, OroraTech is building a distributed network of dedicated satellites and hosted thermal sensors designed to make thermal intelligence increasingly persistent and available in near real time. With 20 satellites now in orbit, the growing constellation observes the Earth across an expanding range of times throughout the day, from early morning into late evening. Each additional satellite creates more opportunities to detect new activity, monitor how events evolve, and build a richer picture of thermal change across the planet.
For wildfire customers, data collected across OroraTech’s network feeds directly into Wildfire Solution, the company’s wildfire intelligence platform, where customers can detect new fires, monitor ongoing incidents, and understand how conditions are changing. The same space-based thermal infrastructure also provides observations of temperature variation across the Earth, supporting OroraTech’s Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) capabilities and the development of additional thermal intelligence applications.
“We are no longer launching individual missions, instead we are continuously deploying thermal infrastructure in space,” said Ignacio Zuleta, Chief Technology and Product Officer at OroraTech. “Eighteen thermal satellites in 18 months demonstrates the pace at which we can scale. With FOREST-20, we now have 20 satellites in orbit, and every additional satellite makes our thermal intelligence more frequent, more persistent and more valuable. Our ambition is to make natural and human fire activity anywhere on Earth visible through thermal intelligence, as it happens.”
The rapid expansion of the constellation is focused on a simple operational objective: shortening the time for new information. Whether observing the emergence of a wildfire, changes in surface temperature, or other thermal activity, greater observation frequency allows changes to be identified and understood sooner.
FOREST-20 will now undergo commissioning before beginning operations as part of OroraTech’s growing thermal constellation.
For more information please visit: https://ororatech.com/
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