The impact of satellite megaconstellations on atmospheric composition and climate
Satellite megaconstellations (SMCs) are driving huge growth in the space sector, but lack environmental regulation. Here we construct inventories of emissions from rocket launches and spacecraft re-entry, covering the pre-SMC era (2019) and post-SMC era (2020-2022). We implement these in the GEOS-Chem model coupled to a radiative transfer model to determine the impact of current and future emissions on climate and the composition of the upper atmosphere.
People: Connor Barker
Funding: European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (StG) UpTrop (851854). European Commission project page.
External Collaborators: Jonathan McDowell (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Seb Eastham (Imperial), Chloe Balhatchet (U. Cambridge)
Data and Tools Used: GEOS-Chem, RRTMG
Media Coverage:
Detailed media coverage on our Media Coverage page.
Mashable, Space tourism sounds fun. But it could be terrible for the planet.
The Guardian, How the billionaire space race could be one giant leap for pollution
CTV News, Space travel is open for business, but what about the environmental impact?
UCL Geography News, First database of pollutant and CO2 emissions from satellite megaconstellations
Space.com, How much do SpaceX's reentering Starlink satellites pollute Earth's atmosphere?
The Guardian, Inventory counts air pollution cost of space launches and re-entries
Datasets:
Global 3D rocket launch and re-entry air pollutant and carbon dioxide emissions for 2020-2022. C. R. Barker, E. A. Marais (2024). doi:10.5522/04/26325382. [Data]. [Publication]
Rocket atmospheric impact - Emissions Inventory and Results. R. Ryan, E. A. Marais (2022). doi:10.5522/04/17032349. [Data]. [Publication]
Publications and References:
C. R. Barker, E. A. Marais, J. C. McDowell, Global 3D rocket launch and re-entry air pollutant and CO2 emissions at the onset of the megaconstellation era, Nature Scientific Data, 11, 1079 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-024-03910-z. [Article Link]. [Data].
R. G. Ryan, E. A. Marais, C. J. Balhatchet, S. D. Eastham, Impact of rocket launch and space debris air pollutant emissions on stratospheric ozone and global climate, Earth's Future, 10, e2021EF002612 (2022), doi:10.1029/2021EF002612. [PDF]. [Extensive media coverage]. [Data], Awarded Wiley certificate for most downloaded article in 2022.
E. A. Marais, Axiom launch: why commercial space travel could be another giant leap for air pollution, The Conversation, 8 April 2022.
E. A. Marais, Space tourism: rockets emit 100 times more CO₂ per passenger than flights – imagine a whole industry, The Conversation, 19 July 2021.
Latest Presentations:
Complete list of research group presentations on our Presentations page.
Quantifying the emissions and modelling the environmental impacts of rapidly growing satellite megaconstellations, talk by Connor Barker, workshop on Protecting Earth and Outer Space from disposal of spacecraft and debris, University of Southampton, 24 September. Invited. [PDF]
The growing impact of satellite megaconstellation launch and re-entry emissions on radiative forcing and stratospheric ozone depletion, talk by Connor Barker at IGC11, WUSTL, US, 11 June. [PDF]
A global, 3D inventory of satellite megaconstellation emissions from rocket launches and satellite re-entries: Impacts on stratospheric ozone and climate, talk by Connor Barker at the UCL Physical Geography seminar series, 30 May. Invited. [PDF]
Developing inventories of by-products from satellite megaconstellation launches and disposal to determine the influence on stratospheric ozone and climate, talk by Connor Barker at EGU, 18 April. [PDF]
Developing satellite megaconstellation emission inventories to determine the impact on stratospheric ozone and climate, talk by Connor Barker at the ESA ESTEC workshop on Understanding the Atmospheric Effects of Spacecraft Re-entry, 10 January. [PDF]
Disclaimer: This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 851854)