Germany’s OroraTech launches global thermal intelligence service

OroraTech has successfully deployed the next thermal sensor of a commercial orbit-based network. By continuously monitoring the Earth’s temperature, customers, like fire-fighting agencies, forestry, and utility companies are provided with real-time detection capability, continuous situational awareness as well as predictive insights to maintain control of wildfires.

With its Early Access Programme, customers can already now get ultra-fast fire detection of bush-size fires and precise fire perimeter location within minutes to mobile and desktop devices. In addition, tasking services covering the crucial afternoon periods will allow customers to monitor crisis zones on demand. Ultimately, OroraTech’s service will provide movie-like monitoring of fires and instantaneous predictions, on a global scale in real-time.

“Wildfires pose an existential threat to our daily life, our societies, our economies,” says Thomas Grübler, CEO and co-founder of OroraTech. “We want to give our customers back control during catastrophic events.”

OroraTech has successfully operated a precursor sensor in orbit for 15 months. Initially intended as a technology demonstration, it exceeded all expectations and is now serving as an active fire monitoring instrument for customers across the globe. Currently, the sensor is actively assisting SOPFEU, the fire agency of the province of Quebec, Canada, in managing more than 150 ongoing fires. Quebec currently relies on 21 fire observation planes to cover the area three times a day when satellite observations are unavailable. However, they eagerly anticipate the switch to satellite observation, which will eliminate operational effort, reduce pilot risk and ensure enhanced situational awareness.

From proprietary real-time data through its own sensor network to AI-driven analytics and actionable insights, OroraTech offers a complete Thermal Intelligence suite. These valuable services can be accessed via the existing Wildfire Solution platform which is already used by customers across six continents today, or specific APIs.

OroraTech provides this data to various industries and use cases. In addition to wildfire-related applications protecting forests and powerlines, thermal data provides valuable insights for food security, drought mitigation, insurance, and other applications. It is also accessible through geospatial data platforms.