An artist’s impression of the MethaneSAT satellite
Environmental Defense Fund/NASA
A satellite called MethaneSAT, which was expected to revolutionize our understanding of methane emissions, has unfortunately experienced a power loss just a year and a half after its launch.
According to a statement from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the non-profit organization behind MethaneSAT, the satellite is unlikely to be recovered. This setback is a significant blow to the monitoring and mitigation of methane emissions, which contribute significantly to the increase in global temperatures caused by human activities.
Launched in March 2024, MethaneSAT was designed to detect methane emissions from various sources such as oil and gas wells, livestock, landfills, and wetlands. Unlike other satellites focusing on specific sources or broad regions, MethaneSAT was optimized for detecting methane emissions at a medium scale, making it ideal for identifying emissions from oil and gas production activities.
The satellite’s capabilities were intended to estimate methane emissions in regions with high fossil fuel production, like the Permian Basin in the southwestern United States, aiding in the identification and containment of major methane sources.
Jason McKeever, from GHGSat, a company planning to utilize MethaneSAT’s data for decision-making, expressed the loss as significant, highlighting the satellite’s unique positioning and capabilities.
MethaneSAT began collecting data in June of the previous year and unveiled its first methane detections from oil and gas basins in November 2024. Efforts were underway to automate data processing to enable the satellite, which orbits the Earth 15 times daily, to provide real-time information on emissions.
“We had just initiated a bi-weekly data release schedule,” said Jon Coifman from the Environmental Defense Fund, emphasizing the high-quality information the satellite was generating.
Communication with MethaneSAT was lost on 20 June, and subsequent attempts to restore contact proved unsuccessful, leading to the confirmation that the satellite had lost power, as stated by the EDF. The team is currently investigating the cause of the power loss and intends to share the data collected before the incident, along with the developed algorithms for analysis.
“We are exploring various options,” mentioned Coifman, indicating that launching another satellite remains a possibility.
The loss of MethaneSAT is a setback in the global efforts to monitor and reduce methane emissions, underscoring the challenges in space-based environmental monitoring missions.
