GHGSat, the world leader in high-resolution remote sensing of greenhouse gas emissions, is building on its momentum to deploy a constellation of satellites in collaboration with the global technology leader ABB. GHGSat's next three satellites, GHGSat-C3, C4 and C5, will be launched into orbit in summer 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-5 mission. GHGSat also announced that it has exercised a contract option with ABB to provide six more payloads for monitoring methane emissions as well as a payload to detect CO2 emissions.
"We were delighted to be an active participant at the recent COP26 conference. Not only did we announce $20 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), but we also announced that GHGSat would provide the first commercial high-resolution satellite emissions data to the International Methane Emission Observatory (IMEO) to support environmental policy actions. Satellite data is critical for stakeholders globally to take immediate action for a sustainable future. GHGSat is serving this need with our growing constellation," explained Stephane Germain, GHGSat CEO.
GHGSat illustrates its commitment towards the environment and future generations by naming each satellite after the child of one of its team members. This tradition continues with the company's latest three satellites, which now bear the names of Luca, Penny and Diako.
Work schedule
The payload for Luca has been transferred to the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), the satellite provider and integrator. Payload integration is now complete, and all tests have been finalised. The payloads for Penny and Diako will be dleivered to SFL in the coming weeks to undergo the same process later this December.
The new satellites are based on the same design as GHGSat-C1 (Iris) and GHGSat-C2 (Hugo). However, several specific improvements are included to enhance data processing and communication capacity.
"The GHGSat constellation sensor benefits from ABB's unique expertise in gas leak detection. For many of our industrial customers, this monitoring capability can provide extremely valuable information with minimal infrastructure cost. We believe this solution is a critical part of the emission monitoring eco-system supporting global emission reduction targets, and ABB is very proud to be partnering with them," said Marc Corriveau, General Manager, ABB Measurement & Analytics Canada.
In addition, GHGSat has started the procurement process for six new methane emission monitoring satellites, GHGSat-C6 through GHGSat-C11, as well as an additional CO2 emission monitoring satellite, GHGSat-C12. The payloads for these satellites have now been ordered from ABB.
Thanks to its technology, GHGSat is the only organization in the world capable of detecting methane emissions from sources 100 times smaller than those detected by other satellites by using a resolution 100 times greater than other systems. This means that GHGSat can identify and quantify methane emissions from point sources as small as oil and gas wells.
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