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Toronto’s Space Flight Laboratory will build another three microsatellites for GHGSat as the company continues to build-out its greenhouse gas monitoring constellation.
GHGSat currently has three satellites on-orbit, GHGSat-D, it’s demonstration satellite launched in 2016. GHGSat-C1 was launched in September of 2020 and GHGSat-C2 was launched in January of 2021.
GHGSat-C3, C4 and C5, also built by the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), are scheduled to launch in June on a the SpaceX rideshare Transporter-5 mission.
The three new satellites GHGSat is procuring from SFL are designated GHGSat-C6, C7 and C8 and will be launched in 2023. All eight of GHGSat’s satellites are using the SFL 15kg Next-generation Earth Monitoring and Observation (NEMO) platform. With each batch of satellites built, SFL incorporates “technical improvements to enhance data processing and communications.”
GHGSat says the SFL build satellites have “achieved unrivaled success in detecting and measuring point sources of greenhouse gas emissions on the Earth’s surface from space. 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.”
GHGSat CEO, Stephane Germain said, “Satellite data is critical to make informed decisions and take immediate action for a sustainable future. GHGSat is serving this need with our growing constellation, identifying methane leaks around the world, every day.”
SFL Director Dr. Robert E. Zee added that “GHGSat is recognized as the world leader in high-resolution remote sensing of greenhouse gas emissions. SFL is proud to assist GHGSat in expanding its capacity to meet demand for these important services.”
