What is the effect of the Virgin Galactic flight?

This article is a detailed appendix to my Summer of Rockets article.

There is no sane debate that refutes the negative environmental effects of launches into space. The excessive expulsion of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Soot, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is harmful to earth’s atmosphere under normal circumstances. However, no one accurately knows the full extent of the damage these pollutants will cause when directly exposed into the stratosphere.j

The CO2 emissions generated on earth have a warming effect on the planet. Conversely, emissions generated within or above the stratosphere cool the earth because it reflects the sun’s ultraviolet rays. No, this is not a solution to counter the effects of global warming. The particles emitted in the stratosphere from the rockets are usually fine particles of black soot which hang around for 3–4yrs. There is also some research indicating the cooling effects from launches is nearly comparitive to the warming effects of all aviation emission. I’m not even going to pretend I understand the full science behind it. If you want to dig deeper, I highly recommend reading:

Although I couldn’t find the exact emission details for the Virgin Galactic’s engine, we do know that it used Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) fuel and liquid nitrous oxide oxidizer (N2O). Translation, lots of CO2, Soot and N2O. Not good.

Blue Origin’s launch on the 20th July uses Hydrogen fuel so there is little environmental impact at launch. Good. However, creating Hydrogen fuel, is very fossil fuel intensive. Not good. At least it is not being deposited directly into the stratosphere. Good.

SpaceX’s starship is a different beast altogether in both emissions and purpose.

11.6% equates to 1.04Bn tonnes of CO2 from approximately 37m commercial flights globally in 2018 alone.

In 2018, there were 114 rocket launches globally. This equates to ~22,780 tonnes of CO2 or 0.00000625% of the global CO2 output.

Yes it is happening in the stratosphere which is very different to the majority of other emissions, but it is still miniscule in comparison to the other larger pollutants. Even if you doubled, tripled or quadrupled the launches, it still wouldn’t even cast a shadow amongst the bigger polluters. Road transport.

If your life depended on it, which mode of transport would you spend your time and money fixing?

Answer wisely because your life does depend on it.

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