The spacecraft, MethaneSAT, was just a year into its mission to provide a clearer picture of planet-warming emissions from oil and gas sites.

MethaneSAT, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) methane-tracking satellite backed by the Bezos Earth Fund, is lost in space. Its ground team lost contact with the spacecraft on June 20 but tried to reestablish a connection until it learned in the morning of July 1 that MethaneSAT had lost power altogether.

Operators lost contact with the MethaneSAT satellite on 20 June, a significant blow to efforts to track – and stop – methane emissions