WORLD WIDE EMISSIONS DUE TO ROCKET LAUNCHES

21st General Assembly der Geophysical Society, Den Haag, 9.Mai 1996

M.E. Voslamber (TU Berlin, Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Marchstraße 12,
10587 Berlin, Germany)
J. A. Leppich and R. E. Lo (TU Berlin, Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrt,
Marchstraße 12, 10587 Berlin, Germany)
Abstract

Space missions range rather low in the scenario of atmospheric pollution caused by world traffic
activities. However, rocket launches are unique in their emission profile: above the highest aero-
nautical traffic lanes rockets are the only sources of pollutants and every launch covers all atmos-
pheric strata. This paper presents an overview of the world wide distribution of gases emitted into
the atmosphere by space launches. Type and amount of emissions have been determined from the
beginning of space flight in 1957 until 1994. Emission data in terms of combustion gas composi-
tion were calculated for the working point of every rocket engine used in that period of time. A
detailed geographical distribution for the year 1991 is presented in tables and graphs. The model
used considers all rockets capable of attaining orbital altitude. The emanations are grouped by gas
type and shown in an atmospheric grid with an accuracy of 5° latitude and 25° longitude. The
altitude grid rests on a meteorological scale based on atmospheric pressure and consists of 47
grid points in the range between sea level up to 150 km. Furthermore some explanations will be
given about the assumptions underlying the calculation model, e.g. concerning trajectories flown
or type of gases emitted.

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1 Introduction
Pollutions emitted by rocket launch vehicles play a particular role in determination of atmos-
pheric emissions. They are of great interest, since launchers represent the only transport vehicle
to cross all of the atmospheric strata. Furthermore space technology is accessed by an increasing
number of countries around the world, with the effect, that meanwhile emanations due to space
traffic are distributed globaly. The utilization of various propellants and propellant compositions
results, after their combustion, in a versatile substance catalogue. Thus they have to be considered
and analysed with more precision.
The research of the Aerospace Institute at the Technical University of Berlin concerning the cal-
culation of the absolute mass of the emitted gases rests upon many sources. The history of space
flight (vehicles launched succesfully into earth orbit) induced emissions starts with Sputnik’s first
flight in October 1957 and the data used for this investigation ends currently at the 31st of De-
cember 1994. The world wide distribution in longitude, latitude and altitude is much more com-
plex and is now available for the year 1991.
2 Calculation model
The calculation considers all launchers capable of attaining orbital altitude. This includes e.g. the
whole European "Ariane" family, the Chinese "Long March" family, the Japanese "H series", the
American "Delta" and "Atlas" rocket, the "Shuttle" transportation system, all Russian launchers
not forgetting the Brazilian, Indian and Israelian rockets and many more. All these rockets are
stored in a database including their dimensions, masses, used stages and engines. The engines
represent the source of the pollution of any launcher and the propellant mass data of the stages
determines the quantity of substances. The emissions originate in the combustion chamber and
the composition of them is influenced by parameters like propellant mixture ratio, chamber com-
bustion pressure and expansion ratio. For further calculation performance data like thrust and
exhaust velocity has to be stored for every engine. All these data is included in the mathematical
model.
A NASA computer code (Gordon et.al. 1976) was used for the calculation of the composition of
emissions.To determine the geographical distribution of the emitted gases and substances the
trajectory of every launcher must be known. For this purpose a computer code was written at the
institute which assumes that all launchers use great circle courses and a gravity-turn manoeuvre
was made for orbit injection. Since this type of flight is the most utilized one, the possible errors
rests in an acceptable range.
The special features of the gravity-turn trajectories used for this calculation are divided into the
following phases: A vertical ascent of an average time of 10 to 12 sec followed by gravity-turn
manoeuver with an initial angle of attack between 2° and 4°. With the computer code mentioned
above it is possible to obtain the absolute vectors of the launcher in respect to the time after lift-
off. The accuracy of the calculated geographical vectors suffice entirely to the one chosen for the
geographical grid (5° latitude * 22.5° longitude). The altitude grid is based on a meteorological
model, that considers altitude zones of equal pressure.
3 Emission distribution
The world wide distribution of emitted substances for the year 1991 is shown in Fig 1 to
Fig 7.The masses of the gases and substances are given in kg over the altitude in respect to a
launchsite.
The launchsites used in 1991 are:
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 Kourou in French Guyana (5°N-53°W)
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at Cape Canaveral in the USA (28.5°N-81°W)
Plesetsk in the north west of Russia (63°N-40°E)
Tanegashima Space Center at the south end of Japan (30°N-131°E)
Tyuratam in mid Russia at (46°N-63°E)
Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) on the west coast of the USA at (35°N-121°W)
Xichang in the middle of southern China at (28°N-102°E)

Distri buti on at Ken nedy Sp ace Cen ter

1 ,0 E+06
CO
CO2
H2O
N2
1 ,0 E+05 Al2O3
HCl
Mas s [k g]

1 ,0 E+04

1 ,0 E+03
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40 1 60
Altitude [km]

Fig 1 Distribution of different substances over Kennedy Space Center for the year 1991

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 Distri buti on at VAFB

1 ,0 E+05

1 ,0 E+04
Mas s [k g]

CO
1 ,0 E+03 CO2
H2O
N2
Al2O3
HCl
1 ,0 E+02
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40 1 60
Altitude [km]

Fig 2 Distribution of different substances over Vandenberg Air Force Base for the year 1991

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 Distri butio n at Plesetzk

1 ,0 E+06
CO
CO2
H2O
N2
1 ,0 E+05
Mas s [k g]

1 ,0 E+04

1 ,0 E+03
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40 1 60
Altitude [km]

Fig 3 Distribution of different substances over Plesetsk for the year 1991

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 Distri butio n at Tu ryatam

1 ,0 E+06
CO
CO2
H2O
N2
1 ,0 E+05
Mas s [k g]

1 ,0 E+04

1 ,0 E+03
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40 1 60
Altitude [km]

Fig 4 Distribution of different substances over Tyuratam for the year 1991

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 Distribution at Kourou
1 ,0 E+06
CO
CO2
H2O
1 ,0 E+05 N2
Al2O3
HCl
Mas s [k g]

1 ,0 E+04

1 ,0 E+03

1 ,0 E+02
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40 1 60
Altitude [km]

Fig 5 Distribution of different substances over Kourou for the year 1991

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 Distri buti on at Tan egashima
1 ,0 E+05
CO
CO2
H2O
N2
1 ,0 E+04 Al2O3
HCl
Mas s [k g]

1 ,0 E+03

1 ,0 E+02
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40 1 60
Altitude [km]

Fig 6 Distribution of different substances over Tanegashima for the year 1991

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 Distribution at Xichang

1 ,0 E+05
CO
CO2
H2O
N2
1 ,0 E+04
Mas s [k g]

1 ,0 E+03

1 ,0 E+02
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40 1 60
Altitude [km]

Fig 7 Distribution of different substances over Xichang for the year 1991

The mentioned substances in the plots represent only a selection of the total number of sub-
stances emitted during that year. The following ejections were not mentioned: C2H5, H, H2, NH3,
NO, O, OH, O2, Cl, C, H2O2, CH4, NO2, HO2, AlCl, Fe,FeCl2 and HF. Compared to the ones fig-
ured later their masses are relatively small and in some cases zero.
When looking at Fig 1 one can see, that the masses decrease suddenly at an altitude of about
60 km. This is a typical progression for a stage cut-off and separation. In this figure it represents
the cut-off and separation of the solid rocket booster of the Space Transportation System (STS =
US Space Shuttle).
The oscillations of the emission data seen in all graphics is due to the fact, that the trajectories use
a 1 second time grid which has to be transfered to the altitude grid. The amount of emissions in a
specific altitude range is calculated by multiplying the mass flow rate of the engines with the pe-
riod of time (delta t) corresponding with the altitude grid. Since the altitude grid is not equidistant
and the mass flow rate is constant there is a variation in the calculated amount.
The small acceleration at the beginning of the ascent causes a high amount of emissions in low
altitudes (up to 10 times more than the amount at higher altitudes). Later the acceleration in-
creases because of the constant thrust and the decreasing launcher mass. Moreover with growing
altitude the drag force is reduced because of the sinking atmospheric density. At a certain altitude
the masses reach a minimum. The reason can be found in the features of the gravity-turn trajec-
tory. As explained above the trajectory consists of three phases: vertical ascent, period of forced
inclination and gravity-turn manoeuvre. The local pitch angle (angle between zenit and velocity
vector of the rocket) of the launch vehicle increases from 0° to 90°. So the hold up time in a spe-
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cific altitude grows with increasing pitch angles. The effect is of cause an increasing ejection of
substance masses for a definite altitude range.
4 Substance behaviour
After having shown the masses and the geographical location of the emitted gases, some informa-
tion has to be given on their properties and behaviour.When exiting the nozzle the gases have a
temperature between 300°C and 3000°C. In addition there is a high relative velocity between the
jet flow and the surrounding atmosphere. Hence a combustion with the atmosphere has to be ex-
pected. The figures show only the composition at nozzle exit.
The exhaust velocity of the gases varies in a range of about 2000 m/s to 4500 m/s. So, when leav-
ing the nozzle the relative velocity rate depends on the speed of the launcher. This speed vector
varies between the maximum exhaust velocity of the substances at the moment of lift-off and the
maximum launcher velocity minus the exhaust velocity of the gas at the moment of injection.
Since the launcher attain a speed of more than 7000 m/s, there has to be a point, where the rela-
tive exhaust speed of the gases are zero.
As seen above the main mass of the emitted substance is emitted at low altitude. This is due to
the fact, that nearly 90 % of the propellants is stored in the first and second stage and approxi-
mately 60 to 70 % in the first stage. Moreover the relative velocities of the gases at low altitude
cause the substances to sink to ground. But this effect is not considered in the model.
It is obvious that the emission masses are directly proportional to the number of launches and of
course also directly proportional to the propellant mass of the launcher himself. Hence it would
be interesting to get a trend of the future launch rates depending e.g. on the development of the
International Space Station Alpha and the demand for satellite launches. Thus a computation of
the emissions considering future launcher technologies (Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles and Single
Stage To Orbit using LOX and LH2) and future launch rates would result on relatively exact as-
sumptions on launcher emissions.
5 References
Gordon, McBride, Computer Program for Calculation of Complex Chemical Equilibrium Com-
positions, Rocket Performance, Incident and Reflected Shocks, and Chapman-Jouguet Detona-
tions, NASA-SP-273, Interim Revision, March 1976

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