NASA CSDA Program Contract Awarded to GHGSat for Methane Data
NASA has awarded GHGSat a CSDA program contract to provide its methane data products under the agency’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) program in order to evaluate and determine the utility of GHGSat’s data for advancing NASA’s Earth science and applications goals. This is a fixed-price blanket purchase agreement and each call issued is not to exceed $7 million over a five-year period.
”NASA understands that GHGSat data have the potential to provide new information to the agency’s scientific research and applications within its Earth Science Division."
Will McCarty, CSDA Program Scientist.
Established in 2017, the NASA CSDA program identifies, evaluates, and acquires data from commercial sources that support NASA’s Earth science and application goals. According to the CSDA website, commercially acquired data provides “a cost-effective means to augment and/or complement the suite of Earth observations acquired by NASA and other U.S. government agencies and those by international partners and agencies.”
CSDA Program Contract Award Supports COP26 Methane Pledge
The CSDA contract award from NASA is the latest example of how GHGSat is making its unique methane data available to the scientific community. With six satellites currently in orbit, GHGSat’s unique capability to measure methane emissions down to the level of individual facilities is directly aligned with the climate priorities of the U.S. government. At the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26), more than a hundred countries joined the United States in launching the Global Methane Pledge, an initiative to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels. Executive Order 13990 directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose a rulemaking to reduce methane emissions in the U.S. oil and gas sector, and a number of bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at addressing methane emissions.
”NASA understands that GHGSat data have the potential to provide new information to the agency’s scientific research and applications within its Earth Science Division, and we look forward to acquiring and evaluating the data through the CSDA program and it’s processes,” said Will McCarty, CSDA Program Scientist.
“GHGSat is proud to partner with NASA to monitor and better understand greenhouse gas emissions worldwide,” said Stephane Germain, Founder and CEO of GHGSat. “We want GHGSat data and analytics to be widely available to accelerate global transparency in greenhouse gas emissions, advance critical research, and develop new applications and insights in the fight against climate change. Today’s agreement is a big step forward and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with NASA.”
(Source: GHGSat News Release. Courtesy Images)