SpaceX successfully launched a game-changing satellite on Monday March 4. Called MethaneSAT, the new satellite is in orbit tracking methane leaks from oil and gas companies worldwide.
Methane is a critical driver of climate change. When it comes to trapping heat inside Earth's atmosphere, methane is over 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Tracking methane leaks will help identify the most egregious emitters.
The Environmental Defense Fund developed MethaneSAT, and Google has partnered with the organization to create its first global methane map by the end of the year for all to see, ushering in a new era of climate accountability.
MethaneSAT, as the new satellite is called, is the latest to join more than a dozen other instruments currently circling the Earth monitoring emissions methane. But it won’t be the last. Over the next several months, at least two additional methane-detecting satellites from the U.S. and Japan are scheduled to join the fleet.