Latest news with #MethaneSat
The Spinoff
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
What went wrong with MethaneSat – and who should answer for it?
New Zealand's first publicly funded space mission has ended with a lost satellite and a debate about how we spend our money in space, writes Catherine McGregor in today's extract from The Bulletin. A sudden silence in orbit When MethaneSat lost contact last month, it marked an abrupt end to New Zealand's first publicly funded space mission – and a major setback for local climate science. The satellite, part of an international effort led by the US Environmental Defense Fund, was designed to 'name and shame' major methane polluters. As The Guardian's Veronika Meduna explains, MethaneSat's main focus was on detecting methane leaks from oil and gas production worldwide; the New Zealand-led side project tracked methane release from agriculture, which accounts for almost half of our greenhouse gas emissions. Meduna reports that in total New Zealand contributed NZ$32 million to the mission – $3m more than the figure widely quoted in last week's headlines. Apportioning blame The questions now are less about whether MethaneSat was a good idea and more about whether its problems should have been spotted sooner. Soon after launch, the satellite faced repeated technical issues, including difficulties with its thrusters and unexpected shutdowns caused by solar activity. Nicholas Rattenbury, Auckland University associate professor of physics, points out that 'the principle of caveat emptor is true for spacecraft as much as it is for purchasing a car'. While NZ was not involved in the design and testing, 'we were certainly entitled to relevant information to make a fully informed decision on whether or not to invest'. His colleague, astrophysicist Richard Easther, suggests NZ needs to shoulder some of the blame. Speaking to the Sunday Star Times' Jonathan Killick (paywalled), Easther argues local checks on the satellite's design and readiness were too light, especially given the 'major problems' that became clear long before contact was lost. All experts seem to agree that New Zealand may have relied too much on assurances from overseas partners instead of independent reviews. It's one of the main questions that the postmortem, when it comes, will have to answer. Space agency under scrutiny The MethaneSat failure has turned the spotlight on how New Zealand runs its space activities. The New Zealand Space Agency, formed in 2016 and now with Judith Collins as its minister, acts both as regulator and supporter of the sector. Simon Hunt, writing for BERL, describes it as a 'one-stop shop' for space policy and business support, noting its advantage in being 'not burdened down with outdated policies and processes'. But some researchers argue this dual role can be a conflict. As UoA's Priyanka Dhopade and Catherine Qualtrough write in The Conversation, the set-up of the agency risks 'a conflict of interest between promoting sustainability and fostering economic growth'. Sustainability in space is a growing international concern, Dhopade and Qualtrough write. As the amount of debris in space continues to skyrocket (sorry), scientists are also turning their attention to emerging issues like 'ozone depletion from rocket launches and the accumulation of alumina and soot particles in Earth's atmosphere as re-entering objects burn up'. The rise of Rocket Lab While MethaneSat drifts in silence, New Zealand's biggest space player is enjoying a record run. Rocket Lab – officially a US company – is now valued at over NZ$30 billion, with the share price hitting a record high of around US$38 (NZ$63). The Herald's Chris Keall reports (paywalled) that two factors are fuelling Rocket Lab's rise: fallout from SpaceX founder Elon Musk's feud with Donald Trump, and the upcoming first test launch of Rocket Lab's 'much larger, crew-capable rocket, the Neutron – which will put it toe to toe with SpaceX for the first time'. But the company's success has also attracted protest, reports The Spinoff's Gabi Lardies. Critics have accused Rocket Lab of enabling military surveillance, including through launches of BlackSky satellites allegedly used by Israel's defence forces. Last Friday Rocket Lab sites were picketed, while Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has referred CEO Peter Beck, Judith Collins and others to the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Beck has dismissed the claims, insisting the company abides by New Zealand law and doesn't launch weapons. Still, the sight of picket lines outside a NZ success story is a reminder that space, like politics, is never free from earthbound controversies.
The Verge
09-07-2025
- Science
- The Verge
The Bezos-funded climate satellite is lost in space
A satellite tracking global methane pollution has gone dark, imperiling a mission that garnered enormous support from Jeff Bezos and other big names in tech. Methane is the primary ingredient of so-called 'natural gas' that is even more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to its ability to heat the planet. The powerful greenhouse gas routinely escapes from oil and gas wells, pipelines, and other fossil fuel infrastructure without anyone seeing or reporting it. MethaneSat was meant to spot such leaks from space in an effort to hold industry accountable for reducing those emissions. But since June 20th, mission operations haven't been able to contact MethaneSat. The satellite has lost power and is 'likely not recoverable,' according to an update shared today by the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund that developed MethaneSat. The satellite has lost power and is 'likely not recoverable' The satellite cost $88 million to build and launch, and the effort received a $100 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund. It launched in March of last year from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rather than a Blue Origin rocket. The launch marked the first government-funded space mission by New Zealand's Space Agency, which supported mission operations control and an atmospheric science program. Before MethaneSat, EDF had to take methane readings on the ground and by aircraft to measure gas leaks. That painstaking work was revelatory; it found that US methane emissions were actually 60 percent higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's estimates between 2012 and 2018. Taking readings from space, MethaneSat was supposed to be able to survey an area in about 20 seconds that would have taken an aircraft 2 hours. Orbiting Earth in 95 minutes, it would cover oil and gas fields accounting for more than 80 percent of global production. Google also partnered with EDF to track methane emissions. With a similar strategy to the way Google Maps identifies sidewalks and street signs in satellite imagery, the company started training AI to spot well pads, pump jacks, storage tanks, and other fossil fuel infrastructure. EDF says it's still working to process data MethaneSat has been able to gather since launching, which it hopes can be used to limit methane pollution.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Jeff Bezos-backed $88m methane satellite missing in space
An $88m satellite designed to detect releases of the planet-warming gas methane from oil and gas production, has been lost in space in a major setback for climate efforts. The MethaneSat satellite which had backing from Google and billionaire Jeff Bezos, was launched only last year aboard an Elon Musk SpaceX was meant to collect data for five years on sources of the powerful greenhouse gas, which is responsible for nearly a third of human-induced warming, to help curtail the worst Environment Defense Fund, the NGO which oversees the satellite, said that communication was lost ten days ago and is currently undertaking an investigation to understand what happened. Methane is the most potent of the greenhouse gases, and although it does not hang around in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, it is 28 times stronger over a 100-year an international commitment to reduce methane levels by 30% by 2030, year-on-year it continues to rise with the target unlikely to be met, according to the European Space Agency. The main sources of methane are from oil and gas production, farming and food decomposition in many of the current satellites that monitor it are operated privately, reducing reducing transparency of who the worst offenders for methane release came after years of development by the NGO Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and once launched made much of its data publicly available, allowing scrutiny by governments and was backed by a consortium of tech giants including Google and billionaire Jeff Bezos, which together contributed $88m to the instruments used by the satellite are some of the most sensitive in the world, able to pick up much smaller sources of methane as well as "super-emitters".Improving the sensitivity is important for detecting releases from agriculture which are often much more diffuse than from oil and gas production. 'Likely not recoverable' Google said when it was launched it hoped its project would "fill gaps between existing tools".The company was using its artificial intelligence tools to process the data and generate a global methane after just a year in orbit, in what was meant to be a five-year programme, communication was lost with team at EDF suspect that the satellite has lost power and said in a statement "that it is likely not recoverable."It went on to say that some of the software could be re-used but said it was too early to comment on whether a new satellite would be launched."To solve the climate challenge requires bold action and risk-taking and this satellite was at the leading edge of science, technology and advocacy," it of the other major publicly-available sources of methane data is hosted by CarbonMapper. One of its sources of data is the TROPOMI instrument aboard the European Space Agency's Sentinel-5P satellite. Although it continues to send back data its seven-year programme was meant to finish in October. It is unclear how much longer it can continue to collect information, further limiting global efforts to track the greenhouse gas. Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC's Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.
RNZ News
03-07-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
Lost satellite cost NZ extra $3m because of delays
Artist rendering of MethaneSat. Photo: Supplied / Environmental Defence Fund A satellite that has been lost in space cost taxpayers $32 million, $3m more than originally planned, because of delays. The extra cost was to staff a mission control that will now never be used to drive the satellite. Leading scientists say too few questions were asked before deciding to invest in the mission, and red flags were missed. However New Zealand Space Agency and scientists who worked on the mission say New Zealand has gained valuable experience. The Space Agency, which sits inside the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), says multiple delays to the satellite's launch meant University of Auckland needed more money to keep employing staff at its mission control centre. The agency says $26m of the total was spent on New Zealand-based organisations. Delays to the launch pushed out the date when the university was meant to take over the mission control. The handover was then delayed another six months when the satellite was handed back to its manufacturer to work on unspecified problems. The handover was finally due to happen in late June, when the satellite was lost. The final cost to the government included $6m to the MethaneSAT organisation for flight software and other items, $12m to Rocket Lab for scoping and establishing the mission control, which it ran for the first year after launch, $6m to the University of Auckland to operate the mission control centre after Rocket Lab handed it over, and $6m to Earth Sciences NZ (formerly NIWA) for a science programme to measure farming's emissions methane from space. The final $2m was for MBIE to manage the programme. Earth Sciences NZ says the agricultural science programme already has a wealth of data and will continue as planned. The lead scientist for MethaneSAT says there's very little chance the satellite will be recovered. The mission is a collaboration with the US-based Environmental Defense Fund. Its chief scientist and MethaneSAT mission lead Dr Steven Hamburg said they did not know what caused the satellite to lose power and become unresponsive on 20 June. "There's a very small chance, we were able to observe it by using another satellite to look at it and it does not currently have power. We are working it, we continue to work it, but we have to be realistic the probability of recovery is diminishing." Hamburg said a group was investigating the cause. RNZ has been asking about problems with the satellite since September and was previously told its issues were "teething problems" . Hamburg said the MethaneSAT had been transparent, and the Space Agency said the mission had kept people as informed "as possible." However University of Auckland physics professor Richard Easther said the space craft carrying the methane detector "seems to have had fairly persistent and deep-seated problems, pretty much from launch." He said for most of the year it had been in orbit, it was not functioning properly. Associate Professor Nicholas Rattenbury of the Department of Physics at University of Auckland said he sympathised with those involved in the mission, but the question needed to be asked of whether New Zealand should have taken a closer look "under the hood" before investing in MethaneSAT. Dr Rattenbury questioned who was asking questions on behalf of taxpayers about the mission design, satellite construction and testing before the government committed the money. He said the science sector had "very limited resources" to spend. Space Minister Judith Collins has declined to comment on the loss or whether the public had been adequately informed during the mission. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
02-07-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
Missing satellite cost NZ extra $3m because of delays
Artist rendering of MethaneSat. Photo: Supplied / Environmental Defence Fund A satellite that has gone missing in space cost taxpayers $32 million, $3m more than originally planned, because of delays. The extra cost was to staff a mission control that will now never be used to drive the satellite. Leading scientists say too few questions were asked before deciding to invest in the mission, and red flags were missed. However New Zealand Space Agency and scientists who worked on the mission say New Zealand has gained valuable experience. The Space Agency, which sits inside the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), says multiple delays to the satellite's launch meant University of Auckland needed more money to keep employing staff at its mission control centre. The agency says $26m of the total was spent on New Zealand-based organisations. Delays to the launch pushed out the date when the university was meant to take over the mission control. The handover was then delayed another six months when the satellite was handed back to its manufacturer to work on unspecified problems. The handover was finally due to happen in late June, when the satellite was lost. The final cost to the government included $6m to the MethaneSAT organisation for flight software and other items, $12m to Rocket Lab for scoping and establishing the mission control, which it ran for the first year after launch, $6m to the University of Auckland to operate the mission control centre after Rocket Lab handed it over, and $6m to Earth Sciences NZ (formerly NIWA) for a science programme to measure farming's emissions methane from space. The final $2m was for MBIE to manage the programme. Earth Sciences NZ says the agricultural science programme already has a wealth of data and will continue as planned. The lead scientist for MethaneSAT says there's very little chance the satellite will be recovered. The mission is a collaboration with the US-based Environmental Defense Fund. Its chief scientist and MethaneSAT mission lead Dr Steven Hamburg said they did not know what caused the satellite to lose power and become unresponsive on 20 June. "There's a very small chance, we were able to observe it by using another satellite to look at it and it does not currently have power. We are working it, we continue to work it, but we have to be realistic the probability of recovery is diminishing." Hamburg said a group was investigating the cause. RNZ has been asking about problems with the satellite since September and was previously told its issues were "teething problems" . Hamburg said the MethaneSAT had been transparent, and the Space Agency said the mission had kept people as informed "as possible." However University of Auckland physics professor Richard Easther said the space craft carrying the methane detector "seems to have had fairly persistent and deep-seated problems, pretty much from launch." He said for most of the year it had been in orbit, it was not functioning properly. Associate Professor Nicholas Rattenbury of the Department of Physics at University of Auckland said he sympathised with those involved in the mission, but the question needed to be asked of whether New Zealand should have taken a closer look "under the hood" before investing in MethaneSAT. Dr Rattenbury questioned who was asking questions on behalf of taxpayers about the mission design, satellite construction and testing before the government committed the money. He said the science sector had "very limited resources" to spend. Space Minister Judith Collins has declined to comment on the loss or whether the public had been adequately informed during the mission.
