Wed Jul 02 04:36:47 UTC 2025: **Summary:**
An $88 million satellite, MethaneSAT, backed by Jeff Bezos and designed to detect methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, has been lost in space. Operated by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the satellite had been collecting data since March 2024, but went off course and lost power approximately 10 days prior. While considered a setback, EDF is optimistic about the lessons learned and plans to continue monitoring methane leaks using other resources. The loss comes as efforts to curb methane emissions face challenges, including reduced pressure on super-emitters and the rollback of US climate policies.
**News Article:**
**Bezos-Backed Methane-Tracking Satellite Lost in Space**
**WASHINGTON – July 2, 2025** – MethaneSAT, an $88 million satellite funded in part by billionaire Jeff Bezos and designed to monitor methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry, has been lost in space. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which operated the satellite, announced Tuesday that the device went off course roughly 10 days ago and lost power.
MethaneSAT had been collecting data and images of drilling sites, pipelines, and processing facilities since its launch in March 2024, providing valuable insights into methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. The satellite’s last known location was over Svalbard, Norway.
“We’re seeing this as a setback, not a failure,” said Amy Middleton, senior vice president at EDF. “We’ve made so much progress and so much has been learned that if we hadn’t taken this risk, we wouldn’t have any of these learnings.”
The loss of MethaneSAT is a blow to efforts to increase transparency and accountability in methane emissions reduction, especially considering the increasing need for accurate methane emission data. Despite this setback, the EDF stated that it plans to continue monitoring methane leaks using aircraft equipped with methane-detecting spectrometers. The organization is also investigating the cause of the satellite’s failure and has insurance to cover the loss. While the possibility of launching a replacement satellite is being considered, no decision has been made.
The news comes amidst growing concern about the rollback of climate policies in some nations, including the effective end of a U.S. program under President Trump’s second administration to collect greenhouse gas data from major polluters and rescinded Biden-era rules aimed at curbing methane. This has reduced the pressure on methane super-emitters to take action, despite evidence of their continued contribution to global warming.
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