As the weather heats up and we roll into summer, we are being told to brace ourselves for El-Niño.  Tackling the threat of these impending natural disasters does not come cheap with costs rising.  At The Australian National University we look to solve big issues like this with game changing innovative solutions and the ANU team behind OzFuel have done just that. 

OzFuel is a spaceborne sensor, designed to be sensitive to leaf-level flammability traits in Eucalypt trees as well as being capable of detecting changes in the flammability traits of other bushfire fuels and offers an opportunity to tackle the bushfire threat by seeing the risk before the fire.

What is special about the OzFuel Payload is that it is targeted to Australian conditions, specifically Eucalypts and will enable monitoring of Australian bushfire fuel flammability from space to identify areas of high risk. 

After many years of R&D the ANU teams led by Professor Marta Yebra and Professor Rob Sharp have built a sovereign space capability, that solves two of Australia’s critical priorities, environmental sustainability and disaster resilience.

Professor Marta Yebra said investing in prevention has a multiplier effect.
"There are a lot of studies that broadly [indicate] that in natural disasters, $1 invested in prevention results in $10 of benefits into the damage that is avoided,”

"Over the next 30 years, we could save more than $8.5 billion if we have more investment in technologies that can provide information that is useful to plan rather than react to bushfires."

Watch today's Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Landline at 12.30pm, as reporter Vanessa Milton highlights the opportunities that an OzFuel payload would bring to Australia. I’ve left a link to the article in the comments and you can stream on ABC iview to find out more.

Our next step is to deploy a pathfinder mission, targeting key areas across the Australian continent. This will prove OzFuel’s potential and the industry impact of the data.

We are seeking investment for the pathfinder mission.  Get in touch to find out more.

Thanks to all involved from the Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence, the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, AITC, ANU Institute for Space | InSpace, ACT Government, SmartSat CRC, New Frontier Technologies, KiwiStar Optics, Electro Optic Systems, Zendir, Spiral Blue and Leonardo Space UK.

Photos: European Space Agency - ESA and Vanessa Milton

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-27/ozfuel-satellite-eucalypt-flammability-anu/107181430