Planet Labs Launches 20 Satellites Including Methane-Detecting Tanager-2

Planet Labs sent 20 Earth observation satellites to orbit on October 1 via SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission. The payload included 18 SuperDove satellites for its PlanetScope monitoring fleet, plus Tanager-2, a hyperspectral satellite built with Carbon Mapper to detect methane emissions and identify rare earth elements from space. The launch also carried Google's first Project Suncatcher demo satellite to test Tensor Processing Units in orbit for onboard machine learning. For carbon markets and climate work, Tanager-2 is the key piece. Its 426 contiguous spectral bands at 30 meter resolution can spot methane point sources, which could strengthen independent emissions verification. Carbon Mapper plans at least three more Tanager satellites. This moves emissions monitoring away from self-reported data and toward direct, repeatable observation.