This crime-fighting satellite can spot law-breakers from space — see how it's holding corporations accountable
A one-of-a-kind satellite is likely giving some of Earth's biggest polluters nightmares — and everyone on the planet stands to benefit from the innovative technology.
The Environmental Defense Fund's Vital Signs newsletter spotlighted the development. An excellent resource for positive climate news stories and solutions, Vital Signs also empowers readers to work toward a better future by advising them on meaningful actions they can take.
According to the report, MethaneSAT is the sole satellite that "can see the whole picture of methane pollution." Even though methane only accounts for around 11% of heat-trapping emissions, it has a much stronger warming effect on the planet than carbon dioxide.
Vital Signs noted the potent gas is responsible for around 30% of planetary warming — which has led to more intense extreme weather, displacement, economic losses, and food shortages.
Children, older adults, low-income communities, Indigenous groups, and people with disabilities are among those most significantly impacted by the effects of rising global temperatures, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Now, MethaneSAT is making it harder for companies to get away with their polluting ways.
The eye in the sky, which launched in 2024, circles nearly 400 miles above the planet and completes a pole-to-pole loop about every 100 minutes, monitoring methane emissions in regions that produce 80% of our oil and gas.
About the size of a washing machine outfitted with 13-foot wings, MethaneSAT gathers data at 25 target locations every day, and it revisits the sites to ensure its data is up to date.
All of the satellite's data is available to the public at no cost, giving consumers who want to hold companies accountable a powerful resource at their fingertips to compare pollution output.
The satellite monitoring has also sped up the process of slashing methane pollution; it's given governments and companies the data they need to ensure they are on track with their pollution-reduction goals while helping them identify which areas they need to prioritize.
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"Cutting these emissions is the fastest, most cost-effective way to slow the rate of warming right now, even as the clean energy transition continues," MethaneSAT explained.
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