Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Reusability and the Starship Space Transportation System
- Paper ID
94848
- DOI
- author
- company
Exponent, Inc.; SpaceX; Space Exploration Technologies
- country
United States
- year
2025
- abstract
SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicle have captured the attention and imagination of the global space industry. The recognition of full and rapid reusability is reshaping the commercial launch market as it grows to meet ever-increasing orbital demands. Fulfilling that demand with a reusable vehicle will lower the costs and impacts of spaceflight, helping humanity return to the Moon, travel to Mars, and ultimately become multiplanetary. As the pioneer of launch vehicle reusability, SpaceX is working to identify the global environmental impacts of transporting payloads and people to space – and back again. With full reusability of both the first and, notably, the second stage of the Starship vehicle on the horizon, SpaceX is at a turning point where launch vehicles can be operated in a fashion similar to aircraft. This shift in how space transportation is accomplished enables a review of the benefits to the global environment. SpaceX is analyzing a case study of Starship to characterize its overall environmental impacts. While some analyses have focused on impacts and emissions of a space transportation system’s launch event, SpaceX looks to capture the impacts from the entire lifecycle of Starship, including manufacturing, supply chain, launch, recovery, maintenance, and decommissioning. The study will provide a tangible look into the benefits of reusable vs. single-use vehicles and offer a framework to ensure the full footprint of launch services are considered when designing goals for industry. This talk will outline the plans for this study with some preliminary findings, showing the impact that reusability will have on the environmental footprint of a given space transportation system.