A local boy now has a satellite in space named after him!
First reported by the Toronto Star, two-year-old Gaspard of Campbellville is the namesake of one of three satellites in California that shot up into space this week. His father, Jean-Francois Gauthier, works with GHGSat. The company held an employee contest that allowed the winners to name a satellite. The other names are Mei-Lin and Océane. The satellites are onboard SpaceX’s Transporter-7 rideshare mission.
The father and son reportedly travelled down to California to watch the launch, which was set for 11:44 p.m. PST. The Star says it was unclear if Gaspard was going to stay up to watch the rocket takeoff.
Each satellite is named after the child of one of our employees. It's a tradition that highlights the importance of our company's mission.
"It became a symbol of wanting to pass on a better future to the next generation,” says Jean-Francois Gauthier, father of Gaspard. https://t.co/MVwZUe2X5K
— GHGSAT (@ghgsat) April 10, 2023
“Every year since our demonstrator satellite Claire was launched in 2016, we’ve pushed the boundaries of emissions monitoring from space,” says Stephane Germain, CEO at GHGSat, in a release. “We are driven by our ambition to fight climate change by continuing our role as an independent purveyor of the best methane emissions insight in the world, and as a trusted partner to industry, government and financial services customers.”
The satellites will be used to monitor emissions from Space. GHGSat says their satellite methane sensors have set the standard for performance with an industry-leading combination of low detection threshold and high resolution. The insight the monitoring constellation provides is used by industry, governments and financial services worldwide to proactively drive reductions in emissions.
“The new satellites mean we can dramatically ramp up the number of locations and emissions we can monitor worldwide, including increasing daily monitoring over key oil and gas production sites,” adds Germain.
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