Why aren't we hearing more about the satellite system that would spot wildfires?

[LAS14]

I've heard on a couple of wonkish interviews about one of the things gutted by Musk's DOGE activities. It was a satellite system designed to spot wildfires in remote forests way earlier than other methods could achieve. ABSOLUTELY what we need to mitigate the Canadian fires. This information should be included in every Democrat's canned speech along with affordability.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Surprise that MTG hasn't brought up "Jewish space lasers."

[Prairie_Seagull]

2. Need more info LAS.

When you find a link, please post.

Thanks.

[Jim__]

4. There is some information here:

Futurism

...

While they were at it, the Trump administration also ripped up a project that would have vastly improved the country’s ability to monitor wildfires. The GeoXO program was a project originally encompassing six satellites that would greatly improve the resolution available to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor atmospheric conditions like wildfire smoke, as well as weather events like lightning strikes, and climate observations such as color changes in the ocean’s surface.

The six satellites were meant to encompass three regions split between the US West, Central, and East. Starting in April 2025, however, the Trump administration directed the NOAA to make drastic cuts to GeoXO. These included cutting two satellites from the mission altogether — scrapping the central observation region entirely — and canceling major contracts for existing GeoXO instruments. The purported goal was to refocus the program on a “core weather mission,” as opposed to long-term climate monitoring, following the administration’s broader attacks on any effort to mitigate or even mention climate change.

One of those cancelled instruments, the GeoXO Atmospheric Composition device, was a high-resolution spectrometer designed to give the NOAA advanced capabilities to monitor air pollutants, like ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and excess particulate matter. In the long term, the tool would have helped scientists paint a clearer picture of how particular weather events relate to broader climate shifts, an NOAA report explains.

Of course, the timing of the cancellation couldn’t have been worse. Huge swaths of the United States and Canada are currently being smoked out by noxious fumes emanating from hundreds of wildfires across North America.

...

[Prairie_Seagull]

5. Thank you Jim_

This, this right here is serious harm in the face of climate catastrophe. Common sense tell us it is better to put out a small fire than a out of control larger one. Fucking Duh. Dangerous Idiot.

[Bengus81]

9. Probably because Trump is so GD stupid he figures only California has wildfires

Just a guess but probably not far off from reality.

[KPN]

10. What also pisses me off about this is, ultimately, it's part of an

overall effort that seeks to privatize most government operations and services, beginning at the federal level. So NOAA, may exist, but it will primarily, and to a large extent primarily, function as a contract administrator. Meaning, we will still pay for those operations and services. Will the taxpayers’ cost for those services go down? Doubtful in the increasingly de- if not un-regulated capitalist system we enjoy.

[The Blue Flower]

3. Beat me to it

I saw your title and my immediate thought was DOGE happened to it. Idiots.

[ChicagoTeamster]

6. He wanted contracts for SpaceX to replace it. But they didn't develop and deploy a replacement before cancelling program

Last edited Sat Jul 18, 2026, 03:46 PM - Edit history (1)

[Whyisthisstillclose]

7. They are going to kill us one way or another.

His personal army of ICE idiots, diarrhea, unaffordable healthcare, nuclear war or air pollution to name a few methods.

[relogic]

8. Who thought we

would join the demise of freezing, suffocating dinosaurs in the global aftermath of catastrophic climate change via asteroid millions of years ago, and likely the same fate in our present slow death of human existence from continental, transported wildfire smoke.

Prehistoric lightening and asteroids inflicted upon the predatory and docile Dino 🦕s’ alike without remorse and warning. We are no smarter and deserve no less.

[Bev54]

11. Spotting the fires is not the problem. The problem is our north is dry after years of low rainfall and climate change

Lightening strikes in these areas are remote and there is no way to get there except by plane and there are so many fires the priority is to work first the fires that are a threat to communities and there are many. We only have so many resources and 1 billion acres of forest land.

We know where the fires are and in the past the fires would burn out on their own after rainfall but not anymore.