Colorado has led the nation on regulating methane emissions and now companies in the state are major contributors to a new satellite expected to be an important tool in identifying and quantifying the emissions globally.
Space & Mission Systems, formerly Ball Aerospace, built the instrument that will identify and measure methane, a prime contributor to the heat-trapping emissions that are driving climate change. The company, acquired earlier this year by British-based BAE Systems, tested the instrument, integrated it with the spacecraft and is commissioning the spectrometer as it orbits Earth.
Blue Canyon Technologies in Lafayette built the satellite, which was launched March 4. The craft used is Blue Canyon’s largest, about the size of an oven, and can carry up to 440 pounds of payload.
“Blue Canyon Technologies is fortunate to collaborate on unique missions, such as MethaneSAT, which expand the frontiers of science and space,” Chris Winslett, general manager of Blue Canyon, said in an email.
The two Colorado companies are among the partners assembled by the Environmental Defense Fund for its space mission, believed to be the first headed by a nonprofit. A subsidiary of EDF created the program MethaneSat to develop and launch the satellite to gather data on methane.
Recent Comments