BIROS is developed and built by DLR's Institute for Optical Sensor Systems in Berlin-Adlershof, in collaboration with Astro- und Feinwerktechnik Adlershof GmbH.
The experiences gathered from the BIROS mission provide important insights for future small satellite missions hunting high-temperature phenomena.
The Kleinsatellit BIROS of DLR completely burned up upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere on January 22, 2026.
The software development for the BIROS satellite involved DLR's Institute for Software Technology in Braunschweig and the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg.
The HSRS camera system in BIROS could adapt to different temperatures ranging from 300 to 1300 degrees Celsius.
Aerospace Innovation GmbH and DLR's Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology in Göttingen were responsible for BIROS's propulsion segment.
The Ground Segment of the FireBIRD mission consisted of several DLR facilities, with the GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen controlling TET-1 and BIROS.
BIROS was capable of detecting small fires as small as ten square meters as well as large bushfires and extensive lava flows without signal overflow.
During its development phase, the BIROS project displayed a clear task distribution where DLR handled system technical research and small industries were responsible for the development and manufacture of standardized satellite bus components.
BIROS was launched as part of the FireBIRD mission and was the second satellite alongside the nearly identical TET-1.
The BIROS satellite operated for nearly ten years detecting wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and other high-temperature events on Earth.
BIROS monitored various fire outbreaks and volcanic eruptions since its launch in 2016 using a highly sensitive infrared camera system.
Both BIROS and TET-1 were equipped with the Hot Spot Recognition System (HSRS), which used infrared wavelengths to analyze fires.