UK Space Agency Backs Satellite Applications Catapult, GHGSat Partnership for Methane Emissions Data Access

Pictured left to right are: Paul Bate, CEO, UK Space Agency; Craig Brown, Director of Investment, UK Space Agency; Rebecca Evernden, Director for Space, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; Stéphane Germain, CEO, GHGSat; Stuart Martin, CEO, Satellite Applications Catapult; Adina Gillespie, European Director, GHGSat

Satellite Applications Catapult and GHGSat have formed a partnership to open an international analytics center co-located in London and Edinburgh and provide satellite data on global methane emissions for research and development purposes in the United Kingdom. The partnership will be financed with £5.5 million ($6.8 million) in funding from the UK Space Agency.

The partners promised to give UK organizations access to high-resolution methane emissions satellite data provided by GHGSat, which is also providing observation data directly to the UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey and other government departments under the terms of the partnership. Users from academia, industry and the public sector will be able to access the new resource through the Satellite Applications Catapult. The emissions dataset aims to allow UK researchers and companies to unlock new applications for climate impact.

UK Space Agency CEO Dr. Paul Bate praised the partnership between the two organizations. “Satellites are getting smaller and more powerful, giving us an ideal vantage point from which to monitor global greenhouse gas emissions and inform decision-making on the path to Net Zero. GHGSat is an innovative company which has demonstrated the value of the data collected by its eight existing satellites. This new partnership will build on the UK’s strengths in Earth observation expertise and data analytics, catalyse additional investment into our growing space sector, and ultimately help protect our planet,” he said.

Catapult CEO Stuart Martin added, “This is innovation at its best — an innovative programme that will itself stimulate innovation across the public and private sector. It is through such initiatives that we will solve the challenges of our time.”