An artist's depiction of the MethaneSAT in orbit. Photo: Supplied / Environmental Defence Fund
A methane-hunting satellite - which New Zealand taxpayers pitched in $29m for - is being handed back to its makers so they can fix unspecified "challenges."
The move comes just a few months after MethaneSAT told RNZ there were "no issues with the satellite."
University of Auckland staff and students were expecting to be driving the satellite's mission control by now, but the handover to them has not happened and the New Zealand Space Agency has previously refused to confirm why.
The satellite's owners said on Wednesday that the mission operations control centre had been "temporarily transferred" to Blue Canyon Technologies in Colorado, USA, which built the satellite.
It said the University of Auckland would be handed control no later than June 2025.
Few answers have been forthcoming about why the mission's crucial data on global sources of the potent planet-heating gas methane have failed to flow as expected.
University of Auckland staff and students were expecting to be handed the reins to drive the satellite's mission control before the end of last year.
In a statement on Wednesday 5 March, the satellite's owners said the temporary transfer would enable Blue Canyon Technologies "to address challenges which are affecting its operation."
It said MethaneSAT was still committed to ensuring the mission operations control centre was transferred to the University of Auckland's Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute."
"It is anticipated that University staff will be on console no later than the end of June 2025."
While giving no detail about any problems, the statements said: "Both the satellite's spectrometer and the mission's data platform are functioning well," suggesting the problem lies with the satellite itself.
The New Zealand Government chipped in over $29 million for the mission control and for science related to the mission, on the basis it would build New Zealand's space and science industries. It is the only government involved in the mission, which is backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos' Earth Fund charity.
MethaneSAT before it was launched. Photo: ©2024 Ball Aerospace
On Monday 3 March, a lack of answers on the project's progress prompted two New Zealand astronomers to question why the Space Agency was not requiring public accountability.
University of Auckland astrophysics professor Richard Easther, who is not involved in the mission, said he would have expected public accountability given the level of taxpayer funding involved.
"We're not putting in [the] majority [of funding] but we are putting in a substantial amount," Easther said.
"I would expect that MBIE [the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment], as stewards of that money, would be expecting accountability, and I would be expecting that accountability would be public."
A second astronomer, Michele Bannister of the University of Canterbury, called for future taxpayer funding for space missions to be subject to competition, with clear and transparent milestones.
The satellite was launched from the United States in March 2024, to detect and shut down rogue sources of methane, a potent planet-heating gas that comes from oil and gas fields, cattle, wetlands, rice paddies and organic waste.
New Zealand-based space company Rocket Lab had initially hoped to launch the satellite from New Zealand, but it ended up being too big.
In October, MethaneSAT acknowledged to RNZ that steps such as commissioning the thrusters took longer than it had hoped, though it said there were no "notable complications."
New Zealand's Space Agency has declined to release any substantial information about its conversations with MethaneSAT regarding any delays or problems, under the Official Information Act, citing exclusions for sensitive or confidential information.
It also previously declined to answer direct questions on whether rumours in the science community were true - of persistent problems with the satellite since launch, whether the space agency was aware of problems when RNZ asked about delays in September, and whether the Space Agency was satisfied that MethaneSAT's answers to RNZ in October were accurate.
Investing in the mission was first pitched to the New Zealand government in 2018 when Rocket Lab's Peter Beck introduced the idea to Space Agency officials at an event.
However it did not launch until 2024. A full flow of data is expected in early 2025, according to MethaneSAT.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
