GHGSat-C3 “Luca”, GHGSat-C4 “Penny” and GHGSat-C5 “Diako”, the company’s newest satellites in orbit, delivered their ‘first light image’ – the satellites’ first measurements of methane emissions.
The emissions detected are from a known emitting oil & gas site in Central Asia. Luca, Penny and Diako’s observations were taken only 3 days after launch, on May 28th, 2022, over the course of one minute, measuring a total of six emissions.
In 2021, GHGSat’s high-resolution constellation measured 143 MtCO2e of methane emissions from industrial facilities around the world. In fact, 69% of O&G methane emissions were detected in Asia, while 74% of these came directly from Central Asia. Published this week, our IN FOCUS Q1 2022 satellite emissions data report, shows that Central Asia remains the biggest oil & gas emitter.
GHGSat doubled the size of its constellation with last week’s successful launch, providing more opportunities for impact, more capacity, and a higher revisit frequency for comprehensive coverage. Stephane Germain, CEO of GHGSat, said: “Doubling our constellation is a big step for GHGSat. These early results are exciting for our team as we scale to meet the growing demand for accurate greenhouse gas emissions data.”
Three satellites, Luca, Penny and Diako, were launched as part of the Transporter-5 SpaceX mission aboard a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 14:35 ET on 25 May 2022. They are all equipped with the same patented high-resolution instrument to accurately measure industrial methane emissions worldwide. The company is set to grow its constellation with the launch of additional methane monitoring satellites by the end of 2023.
