Tanager-2, a methane monitoring satellite built by Planet Labs for the nonprofit Carbon Mapper, has reached orbit aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission. The new satellite is expected to increase observation frequency and expand the amount of publicly available emissions data. Carbon Mapper's database currently holds information on 15,200 methane plumes tied to 5,400 distinct sources across oil and gas, coal, waste, and agriculture. The group says it has issued or supported more than 460 methane notifications in the United States, with 68 confirmed cases of emissions mitigation so far. Additional cases remain under review. Carbon Mapper also uses follow-up satellite passes to check whether repairs actually stopped the leak, which makes the data more useful for tracking real-world reductions.
