MethaneSAT: Unpacking New Zealand’s $30 Million space gamble
In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, we look at the rise and fall of MethaneSAT, the $30 million national space project that was supposed to cement New Zealand as a serious spacefaring nation.
Instead, it became a case study in governance failure, misaligned incentives and lost opportunity.
Launched in March 2024 and lost in June 2025 after persistent spacecraft glitches, MethaneSAT’s methane-sniffing science payload worked but the rest of the system carrying it in space failed.
Working in space is risky, and satellites do fail. But as this week’s guest on The Business…
The skinny
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