MethaneSAT is an American-

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

space mission launched in 2024 aboard

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

's Transporter 10 rideshare mission. It is an

Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

that will monitor and study global

methane emissions Increasing methane emissions are a major contributor to the rising concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, and are responsible for up to one-third of near-term global heating. During 2019, about 60% (360 million tons) of methane r ...

in order to combat climate change. The spacecraft will carry a high performance

spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure Spectrum, spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomeno ...

methane sensing system, which will allow the spacecraft to take high resolution measurements of global methane emissions from roughly 50 major regions across Earth. The mission is jointly funded and operated by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), an American

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

, and the New Zealand Space Agency. It marks New Zealand's first space science mission. The Bezos Earth Fund, founded by

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ; born January 12, 1964) is an American businessman best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and clou ...

, announced a US$100 million grant to EDF that will support critical work including completion and launch of MethaneSAT. Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, a National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)

carbon cycle The carbon cycle is a part of the biogeochemical cycle where carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycl ...

expert, has been named as the mission's lead scientist.

History

The MethaneSAT program was started by MethaneSAT, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), with the goal of providing global high resolution data regarding

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

emissions from

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologi ...

facilities. In January 2020, MethaneSAT announced that the spacecraft will be built using the Blue Canyon Technologies X-SAT

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

, with the spacecraft's methane sensing spectrometer being provided by Ball Aerospace & Technologies. In November 2019, the New Zealand Space Agency (NZSA) joined the program, committing NZ$26 million to the program.

Rocket Lab Rocket Lab Corporation is a Public company, publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and List of launch service providers, launch service provider. Its Rocket Lab Electron, Electron orbital rocket launches Small satellite, small satellites, and ha ...

will build and operate the

mission control center A mission control center (MCC, sometimes called a flight control center or operations center) is a facility that manages spaceflight, space flights, usually from the point of launch until landing or the end of the mission. It is part of the gr ...

for the flight in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. NZSA will also take part in launch operations and may contribute to the scientific payload. Ball Aerospace and Blue Canyon Technologies completed an intensive technology review of their respective contributions to the mission in early 2020. On 13 January 2021, the nonprofit MethaneSAT LLC announced that it had signed a contract with

to deliver the 350 kg MethaneSAT into orbit aboard a

Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon 9 Block 5 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, human-rating certification, human-rated, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. I ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

with a launch window opening on 1 October 2022. By November 2022, the launch had been delayed to NET October 2023 by supply chain issues during the Covid-19 pandemic. The satellite launched as part of Transporter 10 on 4 March 2024.

Results

Early reports using the MethaneSat equipment mounted on a jet aircraft (MethaneAir) showed that oil and gas producers in the U.S. are emitting methane into the atmosphere at over four times the rates estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The largest emitter is the Permian Basin in Texas which is emitting 256 tons of methane every day, accounting for 1.9% of total gas production. This is in addition to the CO₂ produced by extensive gas flaring in the region. Across continental U.S. the aggregate methane loss rate across 12 basins amounts to 1.6% of gas produced, which is 8 times higher than the 0.2% emissions intensity target adopted by the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Spacecraft launched in 2024 Methane Earth observation satellites Satellites of New Zealand Satellites monitoring GHG emissions