Greece has launched a wildfire management system based on nanosatellites and artificial intelligence models. An example that other countries are looking to replicate.
Among the European countries most vulnerable to wildfires, Greece stands out without question. In 2025, more than 50,000 hectares burned, and the figures have been steadily worsening in recent years due to climate change, particularly drought and heatwaves.
Local authorities have long been mobilising to address this emergency, and Greece has now become a technological reference point for wildfire management. The country is in fact the first in the world to integrate a dedicated satellite constellation into its national firefighting system. It consists of a network of four nanosatellites capable of detecting even very small hotspots, supported by an artificial intelligence system that reads the data, filters out false alarms and transmits information to rescue teams. On top of that, hundreds of drones provide better vantage points for observation. This system is making it easier to identify those responsible for fires and could soon be exported to other European countries.
According to a report by WWF Greece and the National Observatory of Athens, 2025 was one of the worst years in the past two decades, both in terms of total burned area and overall number of fires. The figures show 47,828 hectares burned and an increase in the number of fires of 39 per cent compared to the 2006–2024 average. To these numbers must be added the smaller hotspots that were not mapped, bringing the total to over 50,000 hectares of scorched land. The social, economic and environmental impact was devastating: the carbon emissions generated by the 2025 fires represent the seventh highest value since 2003, while the destruction of homes and essential infrastructure entailed restoration costs exceeding 165 million euros.
2025 was not an exception but a pattern that, driven by climate change and the associated heatwaves and extremely dry seasons, is becoming firmly established in Greece. For years the country has been experiencing the scourge of wildfires in an increasingly dramatic way, and two events stand out in particular: 2018, when the flames spread to the outskirts of Athens, killing around one hundred people, and 2023, when between western Thrace and eastern Macedonia the largest wildfire ever recorded in Europe since monitoring began took place.
In the summer of 2026, Greece can count on a new ally in the fight against wildfires: space technology. In May, in collaboration with the German company OroraTech, four nanosatellites were launched, equipped with thermal sensors capable of detecting hotspots on surfaces of less than four square metres — unlike conventional satellites, which only detect fires once they have reached the size of a cruise ship.
Supporting the work of the nanosatellites, which visualise heat zones and thus identify hotspots even in very remote areas, are artificial intelligence models that allow the Hellenic Space Centre (HSC) to process data instantly, filter out false alarms from solar panels and other heat-absorbing infrastructure, create a kind of priority ranking when multiple fires occur simultaneously, assess fire spread based on moisture levels, vegetation cover and altitude calculations, and transmit all this information to rescue teams so they can coordinate their response.
In the coming months Greece will launch a further seven multispectral satellites that will strengthen wildfire monitoring, while the country is already benefiting from the support of additional OroraTech satellites. Greece is thus the first country in the world to integrate a dedicated satellite constellation into its national firefighting system.
Until a few years ago, the emergency response machine consisted of lookout posts, fire brigade patrols covering the highest-risk forests, and tanker trucks stationed at critical points ready to spring into action. An outdated system that did not allow comprehensive monitoring of the entire territory and required longer lead times to become fully operational once a fire actually broke out. Then came the technological overhaul, which, before the nanosatellites, also involved the deployment of drones. Two years ago there were forty, last year eighty, and this year they have surpassed the hundred mark. "Drones have revolutionised firefighting operations because until now fires were spotted from lookouts eight or ten metres above the ground. Now drones fly at 120 metres, have zoom lenses more powerful than binoculars and can share video with 10 or 15 people for assessment," noted firefighter Alexandros Papaioannou.
Greece's anti-wildfire technological revolution is not only helping to contain fires, but also to identify those responsible for them. The number of people arrested has doubled in the space of two years, and the value of fines has more than quadrupled. A system in which deterrence, emergency management and prediction go hand in hand. The European Union plans to increase funding for Greece so that these models can be strengthened and exported to other European countries vulnerable to wildfires and the consequences of climate change. Italy included.
