GHGSat launches first commercial CO2 sensor

Montreal’s GHGSat said November 15 it had launched the world’s first commercial CO₂ sensor as part of a three-satellite package launched on the weekend from the Vandenburg Space Force Base in California.

GHGSat’s CO₂-sensing satellite (C10, known as Vanguard) was accompanied by a pair of new methane sensing satellites, Juba (C9) and Elliot (C11). The satellites were carried into orbit by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 as part of the Transport-9 mission.

Vanguard is the first orbital sensor able to pinpoint CO₂ emissions from individual industrial sites such as cement or power plants using high spatial resolution technology not available on public CO₂ satellites already in orbit. 

At the national and international level, the high-resolution CO₂ data provided by Vanguard will enhance the accuracy of emissions inventories and aid the IPCC’s Global Stocktake and scientific modelling of emissions. It will also help build confidence in the C$1 trillion global carbon trading market.

“Our high-resolution satellites helped put methane – a greenhouse gas that was out of sight and out of mind – at the top of the climate agenda,” GHGSat CEO Stephane Germaine said. “Now our goal is to harness this experience and change the conversation around CO₂.”