The number of rocket launches into space will increase massively in the coming years.
First, to place new satellites in orbit;
on the other hand, because tourist trips to space are becoming increasingly popular – some billionaires have already been there, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
This is still hardly affordable, but soon the trips will become cheaper.
However, all of this does not really fit into a world that wants to become climate-neutral, because space travel consumes enormous amounts of fossil resources.
In most cases, rockets are fueled with kerosene, which means that massive amounts of climate-damaging greenhouse gases are emitted when they are launched.
In addition, the space shuttles can only be used once and many tons of steel are required for construction.
Scientists have therefore been researching ideas for making the rockets more sustainable and climate-friendly for some time.
But why all this?
Can't space travel be limited to an absolute minimum?
In fact, research work in space can also help us with the climate problem on Earth - the satellites in orbit in particular are constantly providing new insights.
Anna Christmann, the federal government's coordinator for German aerospace, says in the podcast: "We're getting incredibly exciting data about soil conditions, drought and long-term developments in the atmosphere.
And with this data, a large number of scientific institutions conduct climate research in practice.«
This episode of »Klimabericht«, our podcast on the climate crisis, is all about space travel.
How can we make rocket launches greener and how does research in space help our climate?
This time, the Federal Government's coordinator for German aerospace, Anna Christmann, and Enrico Stoll from the Institute for Aerospace Technology at the Technical University of Berlin are guests.
Also a guest: Space expert Christoph Seidler from the SPIEGEL science department.