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MethaneSAT Likely Unrecoverable After Power Loss Over Svalbard

EDF is deploying aircraft-based sensors to sustain methane monitoring after the satellite’s failure

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A vertical gas flaring furnace is seen in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo
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Overview

  • The Environmental Defense Fund reported that MethaneSAT lost power on June 20 over Svalbard and could not be restored
  • EDF notified NOAA, the SEC and the U.S. Space Force of the anomaly and has filed an insurance claim for the $88 million satellite
  • Since June 2024, MethaneSAT delivered biweekly, high-resolution maps of methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure worldwide
  • EDF engineers are probing the cause of the power failure and will share the satellite’s pre-loss data and analytical tools
  • Aircraft equipped with methane-detecting spectrometers are already in operation and EDF is evaluating a follow-on orbital mission