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Draft Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) https://netspublic.grc.nasa.gov/main/2019080

by rnrn 2y ago

Draft Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) https://netspublic.grc.nasa.gov/main/20190801_Final_DRAFT_EA_SpaceX_Starship.pdf https://netspublic.grc.nasa.gov/main/20190801_Final_DRAFT_EA... Table 3-7 shows an estimated 83794 metric tons CO2e for 24 starship+superheavy launches, much lower than the figure in that article ( 1872000 tons CO2e for 24 launches ).

rnrn 2y ago
I found a 2022 paper by Andrew Wilson, the cited source for the figure in the space.com article. The estimates for carbon footprint for space tourism in that paper are generally consistent with estimate in the Starship + Super Heavy EA and are also much lower than the per-launch numbers of 78000 tons for starship / 27941 tons for falcon 9. Loïs Miraux, Andrew Ross Wilson, Guillermo J. Dominguez Calabuig, Environmental sustainability of future proposed space activities, Acta Astronautica, Volume 200, 2022, Pages 329-346, ISSN 0094-5765, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.07.034 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.07.034. https://pure.strath.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/139539863/Miraux_etal_AA_2022_Environmental_sustainability_of_future_proposed_space_activities.pdf https://pure.strath.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/139539863/Mi... > In terms of orbital space tourism, two missions (one past, one planned) assumed to be typical have been analysed: a flight in Earth orbit based on the Inspiration4 mission (Falcon 9, 4 passengers), and a flight around the Moon based on the dearMoon mission (Starship Super Heavy, 10 passengers). Based on this, although different launch vehicles are used, it can be estimated that the carbon footprint of a passenger in an orbital tourism flight is about 660tCO2eq 4 passengers * 660 tCO2eq = 2640 tCO2eq for a launch, ~10x lower

by rnrn 2y ago

rnrn 2y ago

I found a 2022 paper by Andrew Wilson, the cited source for the figure in the space.com article. The estimates for carbon footprint for space tourism in that paper are generally consistent with estimate in the Starship + Super Heavy EA and are also much lower than the per-launch numbers of 78000 tons for starship / 27941 tons for falcon 9. Loïs Miraux, Andrew Ross Wilson, Guillermo J. Dominguez Calabuig, Environmental sustainability of future proposed space activities, Acta Astronautica, Volume 200, 2022, Pages 329-346, ISSN 0094-5765, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.07.034 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.07.034. https://pure.strath.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/139539863/Miraux_etal_AA_2022_Environmental_sustainability_of_future_proposed_space_activities.pdf https://pure.strath.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/139539863/Mi... > In terms of orbital space tourism, two missions (one past, one planned) assumed to be typical have been analysed: a flight in Earth orbit based on the Inspiration4 mission (Falcon 9, 4 passengers), and a flight around the Moon based on the dearMoon mission (Starship Super Heavy, 10 passengers). Based on this, although different launch vehicles are used, it can be estimated that the carbon footprint of a passenger in an orbital tourism flight is about 660tCO2eq 4 passengers * 660 tCO2eq = 2640 tCO2eq for a launch, ~10x lower