Carbon Mapper Coalition has officially launched its first ever satellite named Tanager-1 into the orbit, doing so as a part of the SpaceX Transporter-11 Rideshare mission. Developed by Planet Labs, with its underlying technology coming from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), this particular satellite is understood to be a crucial milestone in the context of Mapper’s work to drive local action on methane and CO2 super-emitters. Before we dig any deeper into the overarching launch, though, we must acknowledge how methane is over 80 times more powerful at retaining heat in the atmosphere than CO2. This alone has helped the stated gas to contribute towards 30% of global temperature rise to date. Now, with its clearly substantial climate impact and relatively short lifespan (methane lasts about a decade in the atmosphere), addressing methane has become the most viable method to slow down the rate of global temperature rise. Enter Tanager-1 satellite. Tanager-1 is the first component from a series of satellites being developed and deployed through a unique public-private partnership, which happens to be powered by philanthropy that brings together diverse technical, scientific, engineering and policy expertise to accomplish bold emission reduction objectives. To give you some context, the coalition behind this technology, led by the nonprofit Carbon Mapper, includes JPL, Planet Labs, RMI and Arizona State University, also enjoys support from High Tide Foundation, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and Zegar Family Foundation, among others.
“Methane super-emitters represent a disproportionate climate risk and opportunity — contributing up to 20–60% of a region’s total emissions in some sectors. We have shown that finding and fixing these emissions can result in large reductions that, with sustained monitoring, can stay mitigated,” said Riley Duren, Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon Mapper. “Observations from Tanager will enable Carbon Mapper to grow its publicly available data, and this first satellite is an exciting step toward our goal to scale up a full constellation of satellites to detect and track up to 90% of super-emitting sources globally with daily frequency or better.”
More on Tanager-1 unique capabilities will reveal how it fits in quite seamlessly alongside other emissions-detecting sensors across orbit, all while zooming in on methane super-emitters — facilities or equipment that emit >100 kilograms per hour. This will more prominently do across the fossil fuel, waste and agriculture sectors. Anyway, in essence, the satellite will provide observations with unprecedented granularity to empower industry, policymakers, regulators, and civil society in regards to taking actions that reduce emissions right at the source. Apart from slowing climate change, methane mitigation will also dramatically improve air quality through a reduction in co-emitted toxic air pollutants so to protect vulnerable communities and improve public health. Another detail making this satellite launch all the more important is how, through years of regional demonstration where pilots would leverage aircraft equipped with imaging spectrometers, Carbon Mapper discovered that nearly half of super-emitting events flagged for state agencies and operators were previously unknown. In fact, once identified, these events were able to be mitigated successfully.
“The Tanager-1 mission will use incredible technology to pinpoint emitters and guide action to stop them. This is a remarkable coalition that we are incredibly proud to be a part of,” said Will Marshall, Co-Founder and CEO of Planet Labs. “Combining cutting-edge imaging spectrometer technology from JPL with an innovative smallsat bus from Planet and data processing from Carbon Mapper, the consortium itself is a powerful example of actors coming together to solve hard world challenges. We expect its impact on methane emitters to have a lasting, positive impact on the planet.”
One more thing we cannot close without acknowledging is that Carbon Mapper also plans on making its methane and CO2 data and insights available on the company’s public online portal for noncommercial use. Already boasting tens of thousands of plumes observed from air and space, the stated portal will soon include methane data from Tanager-1.
