MethaneSAT, a subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) non-profit organization, has lost contact with a satellite developed to shed light on methane emissions that other tools cannot detect, with a focus on oil and gas operators as the largest industrial source of the methane menace.

MethaneSAT, a satellite designed to accelerate methane reductions, was launched on March 4, 2024, to glean insight into total emissions of the greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutant over wide areas that other satellites do not cover and identify large emitters in overlooked places.