The Other Side of Space Travel

Space is cool. The universe is an unending mystery that we could honestly discuss until we’re blue in the face. The side of astronomy we love is based on research and academia that allows us to learn about being a speck in the Milky Way. There is a not-so-great side to taking part in space when it’s centred on tourism.

It’s a futuristic topic, but a very real one with the rich and famous being blasted out into space, namely by SpaceX (Elon Musk’s rocket) and Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos’s rocket).

Is going to space an incredible adventure? Absolutely.

But, given the ecological impacts, it may not be worth the hype.

Due to the current climate crisis, there are significant implications for funding space tourism, such as:

Debris is left in the ocean.

Release of hazardous fuels and vapour.

Noise pollution at the sites disrupts local wildlife due to vibrations and loud noises, light pollution, not to mention the smoke and fire released in explosions. Animals that are particularly impacted are turtles whose beaches become closed off which discourages them to nest and birds.

In SpaceX’s case, the rockets may be reusable, but the vessel is composed of 95% fuel which burns a lot of carbon dioxide. It’s estimated that one SpaceX launch is equivalent to 395 Transatlantic flights in CO2.

The growing worry of orbital space debris is of equal concern to atmospheric rocket emissions. With SpaceX’s interest to increase space travel, space debris is becoming an overwhelming problem.

These are just a few problems of space tourism. The gist is space travel is super awesome, but those who get to do it should be reserved for the select few who have been educated to do so. Mainly, because it limits the number of trips taken and the information gained from this space research can be shared with everyone.

The fact that space tourism genuinely only benefits the rich who can afford to leave Earth while the rest of us have to face the environmental consequences from their actions is truly a representation of how this whole climate crisis came about.