The Price of Your Steak, Forecast From Space

  • Bluefield Technologies plans to use methane-sensing satellites
  • Satellite companies seeking to track commodities fundamentals

Beef cattle in Malta, Illinois.

Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

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Cow flatulence may someday have a new scent: money.

Palo Alto, California-based Bluefield Technologies Inc. plans to launch a fleet of satellites that can detect methane emissions, a technology that has the potential to catch leaks at oil and gas facilities or monitor climate-change commitments by nations. The most immediate use, though, might be for commodity traders tracking the supply of cattle.