Bezos-backed methane tracking satellite lost in space

An $88 million satellite funded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, designed to detect methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, has unfortunately been lost in space, according to the group that operates it. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, with 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. However, many methane leaks go undetected, making the scale of pollution unclear.

MethaneSAT had been collecting emissions data and images from drilling sites, pipelines, and processing facilities around the world since March. However, it went off course around 10 days ago and its last known location was over Svalbard in Norway. The Environmental Defense Fund, which led the initiative, stated that they do not expect it to be recovered as it has lost power.

Amy Middleton, senior vice president at EDF, described this as a setback rather than a failure. She emphasized the progress and learnings that have been achieved through this initiative. The launch of MethaneSAT in March 2024 marked a significant milestone in EDF’s campaign to hold countries accountable for curbing methane emissions.

Scientists highlight that capping leaks from oil and gas wells and equipment is one of the fastest ways to address global warming due to the potency of methane. While MethaneSAT was not the only project to publish satellite data on methane emissions, it provided more detailed information on emissions sources and partnered with Google to create a global map of emissions.

The project was funded by a $100 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020, along with support from other organizations such as Arnold Ventures, the Robertson Foundation, and the TED Audacious Project. Despite the loss of the satellite, EDF stated that they have insurance to cover the loss and will continue using resources like aircraft with methane-detecting spectrometers to search for methane leaks.

In Canada, efforts to reduce methane emissions have been ongoing, with the country setting targets to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by at least 75 percent below 2012 levels by 2030. Other initiatives, such as GHGSat, a Montreal-based company, are also working on detecting methane emissions from space to provide valuable information on sources of methane pollution.

Overall, while the loss of MethaneSAT is a setback, the efforts to monitor and reduce methane emissions continue through various initiatives and technologies aimed at combating climate change.