Current space-borne sensor systems can be used to generate products of fire susceptibility using time-series of vegetation state, the occurrence and rough location of active fires using middle and thermal infrared sensors and smoke and area burned using visible, near and middle infrared sensors. The existing and planned operational space-borne sensors are not developed for hot event recognition and show serious limitations if geophysical parameters has to be obtained, (partly channel saturation, spatial resolution > 1 km). Over the last fire years there have been a remarkable number of initiatives in Europe and in the United States to develop dedicated satellite systems for fire detection and monitoring. Starting from the Fire Recognition System (FIRES) Phase A Study German Aerospace Center (DLR) and 0MB-System proposed a new approach to the design of autonomous satellite remote sensing systems. The simultaneous co-registration of a combination of Infrared (IR) and visible (VIS) channels is the key for a reliable autonomous on-board detection of High Temperature Events (HTE) on Earth surface, such as vegetation fires and volcano eruptions. A Bi-spectral IR Detection (BIRD) small satellite mission is now running in a progressed instrument and spacecraft development phase at DLR, which is now supported by OHB-Systems. It will be piggyback launched in 2000 or 2001. The BIRD data will play a key role for FOCUS and for the preparation of the first generation of dedicated operational High Temperature Environmental Disaster Recognition Systems. DLR proposed in 1997 to use the International Space Station (ISS) in its early utilisation phase as a platform and test-bed for an Intelligent Infrared Sensor prototype FOCUS of a future Environmental Disaster Recognition Satellite System. FOCUS, which is now pre-selected by ESA to be flown as an early external payload prototype on the International Space Station, has to demonstrate the reliable and near real-time on-board autonomous hot spot detection. A FOCUS feasibility study for ESA has been conducted by 0MB-system, Carl Zeiss and DLR since October 1998. © University of Idaho 2000. Abstract reproduced by permission.