OroraTech's key idea had been developed during the MOVE-II CubeSat project and WARR at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).[3] Starting as a spin-off[4] in January 2017, the company was incorporated as Orbital Oracle Technologies GmbH (short: OroraTech) in September 2018.[5] Since OroraTech's technology is based on academic research at the TUM, TUM professors Ulrich Walter, a former astronaut, and Alexander W. Koch act as advisors to the company.[6]
Wildfire detection using infrared sensors in space had been proposed as a technology since the 1990s.[7][non-primary source needed][8][non-primary source needed] Technological advances, notably sunk space launch cost, enabled non-state actors to enter the market.[according to whom?] As such, OroraTech operates a software platform for the detection and monitoring of wildfires based on measuring thermal-infrared radiation from space.[citation needed] The company is using data from existing satellites and develops their own constellation of 3-U CubeSats with thermal-infrared cameras to further improve temporal and spatial resolution of fire detection.[citation needed]
The software platform generates various overlays on base maps to visualize fire risk and fire detections. At the current stage, the platform uses data from twelve satellites in polar and geostationary orbits, including such by NASA, ESA, and EUMETSAT.[9] In early 2020, the platform had around 100 active users.[10][better source needed]
The satellite technology is based on research from the MOVE-II project at the Chair of Astronautics (LRT) at the TUM; during the project, a 1-Unit CubeSat was launched with SpaceX in December 2018.[11][better source needed] OroraTech's first nanosatellite, based on the original CubeSat, was developed to reach 10 cm x 10 cm x 34 cm in size,[12] weighing around 1.2 kg,[1] and it was launched on 13 January 2022 as part of SpaceX's Transporter-3 rideshare mission.[13][better source needed] The satellite features an uncooled thermal-infrared imager for space applications,[14] and GPU-accelerated on-orbit processing to reduce downlink latency and bandwidth for quicker wildfire alert dissemination, making it particularly efficient in tackling the issue of detecting wildfires in late afternoon images.[15][13][better source needed]
As of June 2022, the company plans to put its next eight satellites into orbit by the end of 2023, aiming for a detection time of 30 minutes.[13][better source needed] A second satellite, once again hosted on a Lemur-2 cubesat platform, was launched on 12 June 2023 on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket as part of SpaceX Transporter-8 rideshare mission.[16][better source needed]
^Pieper, Konstantin (18 February 2020). "OroraTech revolutioniert die globale Waldbranderkennung" [OroraTech is Revolutionising Global Forest Fire Detection]. Raumfahrt Concret, Issue 111 (in German). Neubrandenburg: Iniplu 2000.[independent source needed]
