MethaneSat failure leaves embarrassment — and no clear path for replacement
Tuesday, 27 January 2026
The US charity that persuaded the former Government to get involved in its first ever space mission by financially supporting the ill-fated MethaneSat satellite is unsure about the chances of it using any insurance pay-out to fund a replacement.
Jon Coifman, assistant vice president of the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), told The Post that while MethaneSat was partially insured against loss, settling a claim was likely to be drawn out and there was no certainty about the amount it might receive.
The Office of the Auditor-General is meanwhile understood to be considering a closer look at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s $29 million contribution to MethaneSat, whose goal was to create a free and comprehensive picture of global methane emissions for climate researchers.
Although MethaneSat launched successfully in 2024, Auckland University physics professor Richard Easther estimated that because of technical snags that necessitated more manual intervention, it only gathered about a month’s worth of data prior to failing completely in June, 15 months into what was supposed to be a five-year mission.
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Easther has been a vocal critic of other science investments he has argued are unlikely to provide value for money. In 2019 he opposed a proposed $23m government contribution to the now-scaled back multi-billion dollar Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project.
“The issue here is that we do a terrible job of choosing science priorities in New Zealand. The people who pushed MethaneSat were not scientists and do not have visible track records of testing proposals for excellence and competence,” he said.
An MBIE post-mortem into MethaneSat said its methane sensor itself, which was designed to detect emissions over large areas yet still in fine resolution, performed exceptionally well during its brief stint in space.
The ministry said MethaneSat conducted 97 measurements “over diverse agricultural regions globally, including 13 over New Zealand”.
But it hinted at failures to provide full information about the satellite’s overall performance, saying “redacted OIA responses and limited visibility into operational discussions and challenges” undermined public confidence in its investment.
Coifman queried the suggestion the satellite had only sent back about 10% of its expected data while in operation.
“MethaneSat was able to measure methane emissions in 45 oil and gas regions around the world that account for 50% of global onshore production. Obviously that’s less than what we would have collected if the instrument was still operating,” he said.
The premature loss of the satellite also means it will not be able to track progress over time reducing emissions in the methane hotspots it did fly over.
Satellite industry publication SatNews reported EDF could receive a US$40m insurance pay-out.
But none of that would go to MBIE, whose contribution came in the form of funding the satellite’s New Zealand-based ground operations following its launch.
EDF raised the reported US$88m needed to build and launch the satellite from non-government sources, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Easther believed US$40m could be enough to pay for a replacement satellite, if spent efficiently, given “building the second one should be cheaper than building the first one”.
But he said New Zealand’s agricultural methane emissions could be monitored adequately without MethaneSat’s superior sensor and, here at least, drones could be flown with permission over oil and gas fields to detect leaks.
Coifman said EDF was evaluating the best way to fill the gap left by the loss of MethaneSat and confirmed “options going forward do include another satellite”.
But he said EDF was also talking about “working with other satellite operators, and some other scenarios”.
“I’m not aware of any conversations with the New Zealand government about another mission, but the whole planning and evaluation process is still in early stages. Any discussion like that wouldn’t come until things are farther along.”
Space Minister Judith Collins appeared to downplay the possibility of future government involvement.
New Zealand’s space sector had progressed markedly since the former Government entered into the partnership with EDF, she said.
“Right now, our focus is on building New Zealand’s own capability.”
Collins said in relation to the original investment in MethaneSat that there were “clear lessons around governance, transparency and contracting”.
“I expect those to be applied to any future partnerships”.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Auditor-General said it was aware of MethaneSat and “considering it through our standard process”.