Latest news with #MethaneSat
BBC News
2 days ago
- 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
3 days ago
- 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
3 days ago
- 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.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Science
- Scoop
NZ-funded Climate Satellite Likely 'Not Recoverable'
MethaneSAT lost contact with the ground last Friday, and mission operations learned today that it has also lost power. MethaneSAT said in May that increased solar activity had been sending the satellite into 'safe mode'. The satellite was launched last March to track methane emissions from oil and gas. It is New Zealand's first official space mission— the government contributed $29 million to the satellite, which is primarily funded by a US-based nonprofit. Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly NIWA) has published a statement on MethaneSAT's agricultural research programme. The University of Auckland's Mission Operations Control Centre was due to take over mission control. A statement from the university is available here. The SMC asked experts to comment. Associate Professor Nicholas Rattenbury, Department of Physics, University of Auckland, comments: 'MethaneSat is reported to be defunct. This is disappointing, of course, for everyone on the mission development, operations, scientific and engineering teams. Having been in that position personally, I sympathise. That a spacecraft fails on orbit is not surprising. The space environment is unforgiving. Broken things in orbit tend to stay broken. In some cases, workarounds can be found, and the space industry has many examples of extraordinary engineering feats accomplished to bring a stricken spacecraft back towards full functionality. However, it appears that MethaneSat is unrecoverable. Space, as they say in the industry, is hard. 'New Zealand taxpayers gave $29m to MethaneSat. The intended aim was growing the NZ space industry. This would be accomplished through gaining experience in operating a satellite at The University of Auckland's Te Pūnaha Ātea – Space Institute and through research led by a NIWA scientist on how to use MethaneSat to measure agricultural sources of methane. But with this recent announcement it looks like these benefits will be limited, at best. 'Even though it appears that New Zealand was not likely involved in the chain of events leading to the underperformance of MethaneSat, we as investors in the project are entitled to an explanation. 'The technical issues encountered by MethaneSat are not a concern here for NZ – we didn't build MethaneSat. However, there is a question of whether or not we should have taken a closer look 'under the hood' before investing in MethaneSat. The principle of caveat emptor is true for spacecraft as much as it is for purchasing a car. While we were not involved in the MethaneSat mission design, satellite construction and testing, we were certainly entitled to such relevant information so we could make a fully informed decision on whether or not to invest. A question, then: Who on behalf of the NZ taxpayer was asking these and similar questions prior to our investment and how were the answers used in the decision-making process? 'New Zealand has scientists and engineers working at public-funded universities that can contribute to future decision-making processes for the next space mission supported by the New Zealand taxpayer. During the MethaneSat post-mortem, a question that could reasonably be asked is to what extent these experts were consulted during the decision-making process to invest in MethaneSat. What lessons here could be learned to inform the next process through which we as a nation invest in a future space mission? When questions were being asked about the health of MethaneSat, to what extent are we, as investors, happy with the explanation that much information was veiled owing to reported obligations of confidentiality or commercial sensitivity? 'I work towards fostering the New Zealand space sector, especially in the areas where we can push back the boundaries of human knowledge via the safe, peaceful and sustainable use of space. Space is hard, unforgiving, expensive and frustrating. It can also be rewarding, and this is part of the excitement that I see reflected in the students I teach. For a nation with ambitions to utilise space for science, technological development and commercial gain we also have to acknowledge that failure is a part of that journey. To make the best use of our very limited resources, we owe it to ourselves to examine our processes in the fullest light of disclosure and by leveraging all available expertise.' Conflict of interest statement: 'I am not associated with MethaneSAT in any way. These views are not necessarily those held by The University of Auckland.' Professor Richard Easther, Department of Physics, University of Auckland, comments: 'First and foremost, this is a tragedy for the people here who worked hard on it, and for New Zealand science. 'However, it is important to remember that a key justification for us getting involved with MethaneSAT was to 'build capacity' to operate in space as a country and we can still get a return on our investment by learning from this loss. 'I was excited when we got involved in 2019, but MethaneSAT was years late launching and kept pumping out upbeat comms even after it became clear that the spacecraft had major problems. 'As a country we need a 'no blame' review to understand how New Zealand blew past so many red flags about MethaneSAT's operation. Rocket Lab's success creates a remarkable platform for New Zealand to do low-cost, globally significant space missions and our involvement with MethaneSAT has squandered that opportunity. 'However, if the best time to start would have been 2019, the second best is tomorrow – the opportunity is still there. 'But without getting ahead of the post mortem it is clear that we need to make better decisions about strategy and that will only happen if expertise in the science community is fully engaged from the outset.' Conflict of interest statement: Easther is a professor of physics at the University of Auckland but has had no direct involvement with the university contribution to MethaneSAT. He is commenting as an academic engaged with the New Zealand space sector and is not speaking on behalf of the institution. Professor Craig Rodger, Beverly Professor of Physics, University of Otago, comments: Note: Professor Rodger is an expert in solar weather. Are satellites often 'lost'? 'Satellites do go into safe mode and need to be reset. Satellites are also sometimes lost – for example, there is internal damage which triggers them going into safe mode but they never come back and just stop talking to you. But that sort of thing is pretty damn rare. 'When satellite operators talk about 'safe mode', that's usually in the context of impacts triggered by the satellite being bombarded by hot protons and hot electrons. When they are around, it's a tough environment to put your spacecraft in. The thing that surprises me is that the space environment was relatively benign around the 20th of June (when they lost contact with MethaneSAT), and had been for a few weeks. I'm not saying it was dead quiet, but it was sort-of background level conditions – especially for this time in the 11 year solar cycle where the sun is restless in a big way, and when we expect the environment to be a bit challenging.' How can solar weather affect satellites? 'There have been moments when it's been interesting in the last year and a bit, but there have not been extreme conditions in the space environment. In that time there was some unusually cool stuff in terms of the atmosphere – you may have seen the aurora in May or October last year – and also geomagnetic storms. However, that activity wasn't linked to events making a horrible space environment. It's like weather: we aren't talking about something extreme like 'Cyclone Gabrielle', we're talking about normal slightly active conditions where 'some storms have come through'. Typically people build their equipment to handle that. We haven't had something like Cyclone Gabrielle in the space environment for about 20 years, in terms of radiation doses. So it's puzzling, what has happened here with MethaneSAT. Is this a concern for other satellites? 'One thing that has been talked about for a while now is that during the last solar maximum, roughly 11 years ago, it was unusually benign. So if you are a spacecraft engineer who has grown up in an environment where everything is pretty quiet, there's a worry you will build for conditions that have been like that for your entire life. This would ignore the fact that 20 or 30 years ago we made measurements in space that were like 'holy crap what's going on right now?' The satellites back then had bad days, but were well built. The new space industry has developed in very quiet conditions, and now we're moving into more normal times, and if you're not ready for that normal background level of space weather, that's a potential problem. 'But we are not hearing internationally of lots of spacecraft just dropping dead. Maybe some people have got a particularly fascinating design with certain issues and sensitivities, but we are not constantly hearing about how the enhanced solar activity is causing many satellites to have major problems. I'm not saying there's zero issues, we have some, but this isn't an incredible big deal across the world for other satellite operators. 'There are a lot of satellites nowadays made by students in universities as a learning experience – there are a very large number of those which are referred to as 'dead on arrival', or 'DoA'. They never survive launch or don't turn on when they get to orbit. It used to be that more than half of student satellites were 'dead on arrival', but as people get their act together, that number is going down. That issue is linked to a very specific satellite manufacturing sub-environment where you don't have experienced engineers – it's all about learning, whereas I hope that the people who designed MethaneSAT had a lot of knowledge about spacecraft design and the environment it was going into. 'Now, I've never designed a satellite – it would be 'dead on arrival' if I built a satellite. But I do watch the satellite environment and the information from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center in the US and so I have an idea of the ranges of activity that occur – what quiet looks like, what disturbed looks like, what 'big arse holy crap' looks like. Conditions have not been really active, but MethaneSAT seems to be having a bad time for quite a while now. 'The other thing that can happen is that you just get unlucky in terms of space environment and you happen to fly through something – your hardware triggers and you go into safe mode. But that's like winning the Lotto. From what we've been told in the media, it sounds like this has happened to MethaneSat multiple times. These guys are apparently being repeatedly unlucky, and that's weird. That would happen if you have something fundamentally wrong with the design of your spacecraft – but it's hard to suggest anything definitive because the information that's been provided, while it uses technical and meaningful words, doesn't give enough detail to link it to what's really been happening.'
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Science
- NZ Herald
Taxpayer-funded satellite likely ‘irrecoverable' after losing contact with the ground
But it has been plagued by delays, initially to its launch date and then to the arrival of its promised data about global methane emissions. The University of Auckland has been waiting to take over the mission control at its new, partly taxpayer-funded Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute. An artist's rendering of MethaneSAT, the satellite EDF developed. Photo / Environmental Defence Fund The announcement of the satellite's demise came just two days after the latest deadline for handing control over to university staff and students. RNZ has been asking about problems with the satellite since September. In May, the mission's chief scientist said more intense solar activity because of a peak in the sun's magnetic cycle had been causing MethaneSat to go into safe mode. The satellite had to be carefully restarted every time. There had also been a problem with one of the satellite's three thrusters, which maintain its altitude and steer the spacecraft. It had been thought that MethaneSat could operate fully on two thrusters. The new information helps explain why control of the satellite had to be handed back to its manufacturers in Colorado in March, instead of going straight from Rocket Lab to the University of Auckland as planned. The university had said it would still operate the mission control from a delayed start date of June, and staff had been involved in day-to-day tasks before the full handover. The ability to learn from operating the satellite was a major rationale for the Government's investment, after early hopes that it would reveal new information about New Zealand's methane emissions proved incorrect. New Zealand scientists had raised questions about what they saw as a lack of transparency with the New Zealand public about delays to the satellite's data. The EDF, the environmental non-profit behind the satellite mission, told RNZ in October that the spacecraft was performing as expected and there were no 'notable or particular complications outside the realm of what would be anticipated'. But just a few months later, after more questions from RNZ, MethaneSat announced that control of the satellite had been transferred back to its maker, Blue Canyon Technologies, so it could fix 'challenges'. When RNZ previously asked the EDF if its response in October had been true, it said the issues were 'teething problems' and nothing beyond what was expected. 'MethaneSat experienced the sort of teething problems that one would encounter with any new mission using a new platform (bus), but nothing outside the bounds of what was to be expected. The expectation was that developing an efficient, well-honed set of operating procedures takes time,' it said. It acknowledged in October that the process was taking longer than expected, particularly commissioning the thrusters. However, it did not disclose the issue with the satellite having to be brought out of safe mode until RNZ asked a list of specific questions. In March, Space Minister Judith Collins was asked about the mission's problems – but told Parliament she could not say because of confidentiality. In February, the Government's Space Agency also cited the need for confidentiality when it declined to answer questions from RNZ about what was wrong. University of Auckland astrophysicist Richard Easther was among the critics of the mission's lack of communication about its problems. On Wednesday, he said New Zealand needed a 'no-blame' review to understand 'how New Zealand blew past so many red flags about MethaneSat's operation'. 'This is a tragedy for the people here who worked hard on it, and for New Zealand science.' He said the mission 'kept pumping out upbeat comms even after it became apparent that the spacecraft had major problems which in many cases appear to have been present since launch'. Full statement from EDF 'On Friday, June 20, the MethaneSat mission operations lost contact with MethaneSat. 'After pursuing all options to restore communications, we learned this morning that the satellite has lost power, and that it is likely not recoverable. 'While this is difficult news, it is not the end of the overall MethaneSat effort, or of our work to slash methane emissions. 'Launched in March 2024, MethaneSat had been collecting methane emissions data over the past year. It was one of the most advanced methane-tracking satellites in space, measuring methane emissions in oil and gas producing regions across the world. 'The mission has been a remarkable success in terms of scientific and technological accomplishment, and for its lasting influence on both industry and regulators worldwide. 'The engineering team is conducting a thorough investigation into the loss of communication. This is expected to take time. We will share what we learn. 'Thanks to MethaneSat, we have gained critical insight about the distribution and volume of methane being released from oil and gas production areas. 'We have also developed an unprecedented capability to interpret the measurements from space and translate them into volumes of methane released. 'This capacity will be valuable to other missions. 'EDF and MethaneSat remain firmly committed to our core purpose of turning data into action to protect the climate, including reducing methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry. 'The advanced spectrometers developed specifically for MethaneSat met or exceeded all expectations throughout the mission. In combination with the mission algorithms and software, we showed that the highly sensitive instrument could see total methane emissions, even at low levels, over wide areas, including both large sources (super emitters) and the smaller ones that account for a large share of total methane emissions, which were not visible from space until MethaneSat. 'EDF and MethaneSat remain firmly committed to our core purpose of turning data into action to protect the climate, including reducing methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry. 'We will be working with partners around the world to leverage the algorithms and associated software as well as the 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. 'We will continue to process data that we have retrieved from the satellite and will be releasing additional scenes of global oil and gas production region-scale emissions over the coming months. 'To solve the climate challenge requires bold action and risk-taking and this satellite was at the leading edge of science, technology and advocacy. 'We also will continue to work closely with our partners to reduce methane emissions and implement the goals of the Global Methane Pledge, the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, the United Nations Environment Programme's International Emissions Observatory and Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and so many other efforts this mission was designed to support.' – RNZ
