Bezos-funded satellite used to track methane emissions goes missing

A satellite funded by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has disappeared in space while on an important climate change mission, New Zealand authorities reported Wednesday.

Designed to measure greenhouse gas emissions with "unprecedented resolution," the MethaneSAT space probe has also received funding from the New Zealand capital, Wellington, as well as from the US NGO Environmental Defense Fund .

The satellite suffered numerous technical problems and recently stopped responding to input from ground controllers. "This is a disappointing development," said Andrew Johnson, a senior official at the New Zealand Space Agency .

The satellite was launched into space in March 2024 to obtain accurate estimates of methane emissions from oil and gas projects around the world.

Mission leader Steven Hamburg said initial measurements at oil fields in Texas and New Mexico "revealed emissions three to five times higher than those estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

Emissions in the southern Caspian Sea region of Central Asia " were about 10 times higher than reported ," he wrote on LinkedIn.