MethaneSAT 'likely not recoverable' after losing contact with Earth

Methane monitoring satellite managed just over a year in orbit before its sudden demise

The Bezos-backed MethaneSAT satellite has been declared "likely not recoverable" after losing contact with controllers just over a week ago.

The satellite was launched in March 2024 and was tasked with collecting data regarding methane emissions, a gas associated with global warming. The theory was that by tracking emissions, data from the satellite could be used to ensure promises were being kept to cut back on the gas.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) described the spacecraft as "one of the most advanced methane tracking satellites in space, measuring methane emissions in oil and gas producing regions across the world."

It's unclear what happened to the satellite, and engineers continue to investigate. However, contact was lost on June 20. On July 1, the EDF posted that the satellite had lost power and was likely gone for good.

"While this is difficult news," the organization said, "it is not the end of the overall MethaneSAT effort, or of our work to slash methane emissions."

The satellite circled the Earth 15 times a day and could measure changes in methane concentrations as small as three parts per billion. Its swath width was 200 kilometers, and data produced by the satellite was freely available.

Donors, including the Bezos Earth Fund, Arnold Ventures, and the Robertson Foundation, backed the MethaneSAT. The New Zealand Space Agency, Rocket Lab, and SpaceX also had a hand in the project, and it was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The cost of developing the mission was approximately $88 million.

The satellite, which weighed in at around 350 kg (770 lb), was the first to be developed by an environmental non-profit and was built in Colorado by the Space & Mission Systems unit of BAE Systems and Blue Canyon Technologies.

There is no word on whether a replacement will be launched. The EDF said, "The advanced spectrometers developed specifically for MethaneSAT met or exceeded all expectations throughout the mission," and called the mission "a remarkable success in terms of scientific and technological accomplishment," if perhaps not longevity.

MethaneSAT was not the only player in town when it comes to monitoring methane emissions – other orbiting observers include the TROPOMI (Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument) payload on board the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Sentinel-5P – but it did provide high-resolution coverage and could get down to the level of individual oil and gas facilities.

Until, alas, it couldn't. ®