Unfortunate MethaneSAT update

I am sorry to share some very sad news about MethaneSAT.

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Environmental Defense Fund
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Dear John,

I am sorry to have to share some very sad news about MethaneSAT.

We lost normal contact with the satellite twelve days ago, and after multiple attempts to reestablish contact, we now know that the failure resulted from a complete loss of power.

Without power to keep the satellite properly oriented to the sun, it was exposed to extremes of temperature far beyond what the electronics can tolerate, and the satellite is not recoverable.

The engineering team is conducting a thorough investigation. This is expected to take time and we will share what we learn.

This news is devastating and the whole team is in mourning. Solving the climate challenge requires bold action and risk-taking, and this satellite was at the leading edge of science, technology and advocacy.

We expected — and the world needs — the full scope of ongoing measurements and analysis of methane emissions, especially from the oil and gas industry, that the MethaneSAT mission was designed to provide as part of the constellation of satellites. No amount of sugarcoating can hide the fact that we won’t have this full range and caliber of measurements and analysis, at least for some time, which will leave the industry less accountable for its future performance.

While this is difficult news, EDF’s critical work to slash methane emissions will continue to move forward. Thanks to MethaneSAT:

arrow bullet We have downloaded data that offers a far more comprehensive view of major oil and gas producing basins around the globe.

arrow bullet We completed development of the analytic capacity — which I refer to as the “data factory” — that can automatically convert concentration data into flux data, incorporating wind directions and speeds, and providing the critical information to show how emissions are changing over time. This has never been done by any other satellite for any greenhouse gas.

In the coming months, we will evaluate the many options we have going forward. These include deploying aircraft to monitor emissions in North America and collaborating with a recently launched satellite that has the potential to offer valuable area wide data. We will also explore the costs and feasibility of launching another satellite.

EDF remains firmly committed to turn data into action to protect the climate, including our focus on reducing methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry.

We will be working with partners around the world to leverage the software and now-proven high precision technology that was developed as part of the MethaneSAT mission, so the world has access to high-quality, actionable greenhouse gas emissions data on a global basis.

And we will continue to process data that we have retrieved from MethaneSAT and will be releasing additional scenes of global oil and gas production region-scale emissions over the coming months.

I am grateful for your support of EDF as we pursue bold, game-changing ideas like MethaneSAT to address the greatest environmental challenges of our time.

With appreciation,

Fred Krupp
President, Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental Defense Fund
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P.O. Box 98051, Washington, DC 20090-8051 | 800.684.3322
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