MethaneSAT Goes Off Course
An $88 million satellite funded by Jeff Bezos and designed to track methane leaks has been lost in space. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which led the project, said the satellite, MethaneSAT, stopped working around 10 days ago. Its last known location was over Svalbard in Norway, and EDF confirmed it does not expect recovery as the satellite has lost power.
MethaneSAT had been gathering emissions data from pipelines, drilling sites, and processing facilities since its launch in March 2024. EDF described the loss as a setback rather than a failure, noting the mission had provided valuable insights into tracking methane.
Tracking Methane to Tackle Climate Change
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with 80 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide over 20 years. Scientists say fixing leaks from oil and gas equipment is one of the quickest ways to address global warming. MethaneSAT was part of EDF’s mission to push the more than 120 countries that pledged to reduce methane emissions in 2021 to keep their promises.
The project also supported commitments made by 50 oil and gas companies at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai to eliminate methane leaks and end routine gas flaring.
While MethaneSAT was not the only satellite monitoring methane, it offered detailed data on emissions sources. Jeff Bezos partnered with Google to develop a public global emissions map, aiming to increase accountability within the oil and gas industry.
Future of Methane Monitoring Efforts
EDF reported the satellite loss to the U.S. Space Force, NOAA, and the Federal Communications Commission. The satellite’s construction and launch cost $88 million, funded in part by a $100 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund and other supporters including Arnold Ventures and the Robertson Foundation.
Despite this setback, EDF will continue methane detection using aircraft equipped with spectrometers to monitor leaks. Engineers are investigating the cause of MethaneSAT’s failure while EDF assesses the possibility of launching a replacement in the future.
EDF noted that MethaneSAT had shown a sensitive instrument could detect even low-level methane emissions over wide areas. However, the United Nations reported last year that many major methane emitters have done little to address leaks, even when notified.
Meanwhile, efforts to monitor greenhouse gas emissions have weakened under the US administration, which has ended data collection programmes and rescinded rules aimed at reducing methane.
with inputs from Reuters
