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This methane-sniffing satellite will leave climate polluters nowhere to hide

Set to launch as early as next week, MethaneSAT will partner with Google to map leaks from the oil and gas industry and beyond.
  1. Jeff Tollefson
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Carbon dioxide usually dominates the discussion when it comes to climate change, but slashing methane emissions could have an even bigger effect on global warming over the next few decades. With the help of a satellite that is set to launch as early as 4 March from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California, governments and businesses will at last have a tool to help them to pinpoint methane hotspots on Earth and plug the leaks.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00600-z

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 06 March 2024: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the satellite can transmit imagery covering 30 swaths of land measuring 200 square kilometres each. The 30 swaths are actually 200 kilometres in length, or 40,000 square kilometres each.

References

  1. Ocko, I. B. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 16, 054042 (2021).

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  2. Alvarez, R. A. et al. Science 361, 186–188 (2018).

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