What does a new space age
mean for the environment?
On July 11, Richard Branson was launched 80 kilometres above the Earth for ten minutes of extremely expensive space tourism (tickets are now open to the public for C$565,000). A few days later, Jeff Bezos reached 120 kms in his company's commercial space rocket. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's SpaceX is planning to offer multi-day trips as much as four times farther into space than its competitors.
It's the beginnings of a space tourism market that Swiss investment bank, UBS, says could reach $20 billion per year by 2030. The question is: what will this new space age mean for the environment down here on planet Earth?
Get answers from astrophysicist Parshati Patel & atmospheric scientist Eloise Marais on our latest podcast
Up until now, the environmental toll of rocket launches has been mostly a moot point, with the international community frequenting only about 150 launches per year. But space tourism will change that. Richard Branson is promising 400 launches per year all on his own, while some experts predict as many as 1000 launches per year in the near future.
So let's take stock of the rising environmental impacts. Dr. Eloise Marais from University College London says the biggest impact is from rocket fuels. Here, she notes, the carbon-based fuels being used by SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are the most problematic from a climate change perspective. But she adds that the hydrogen-based fuel used by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket is also concerning because of ozone depleting emissions. Are there greener rocket fuels? You'll need to listen to find out.
Dr. Parshati Patel, from University of Western Ontario, measures up the material waste. While she commends Blue Origin and SpaceX for mastering the science of the reusable rocket, she notes there's still a long way to go in order to minimize space junk and expensive rocket litter.
Could space tourism ever be green? Hear more from our fascinating conversations with Dr. Marais and Dr. Patel on our latest bi-weekly podcast.
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