One Small Step for bluShift, One Giant Leap for Sustainability
Stardust 1.0 successfully launched from Maine in a prototype launch test. Credit: bluShift Aerospace
If you’ve ever seen a rocket launch, you’ll know that it takes an incredible amount of fuel to lift a heavy metal structure. What you do not see is the large amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. For example, for SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the kind of rocket that was recently used to carry a team of astronauts to the International Space Station, each launch releases 270,000 kg of carbon dioxide! That is equivalent to 58 times the amount of carbon dioxide that the average car releases into the atmosphere per year, according to the EPA.
On Sunday, January 31, a startup named bluShift made history in multiple ways. First, the company is the first to launch a test rocket from the snowy coast of Maine. Even more importantly, bluShift is the first commercial company to launch a rocket using bio-derived solid fuel or fuel made with a renewable, plant-based formula.
bluShift aims to use its biofuel to provide a launch platform for nanosatellites or CubeSats. They each have a mass between 1 kilogram and 10 kilograms, are relatively inexpensive, and can be developed and produced within a year. This makes them ideal for small projects. bluShift currently has four designs for rockets able to be powered by its biofuel. On January 31, it tested a prototype of the smallest of its four sounding rockets, the Stardust 1.0. Even though the rocket can only carry a payload of up to 8 kilograms and this test flight was not high enough to reach space (it reached an apogee of 1,219 meters), it successfully carried several payloads. blueShift’s CEO, Sascha Deri, has been quick to give the startup an image too, describing the company as the future “Uber to space.” This nickname refers to how bluShift’s smaller launches provide more control for its customers. Small satellites usually do not have as much leverage when riding as a secondary payload on a larger launch provider’s platform.
Most rocket propellants are composed of two parts: the fuel and an oxidizing agent. When the two are combined, they result in combustion, producing enough force to push the rocket upwards. Rockets typically use a petroleum-based fuel and an oxidizer such as ammonium nitrate or ammonium dinitramide. bluShift’s rockets rely on a different combination of reactants. Instead of using a typical oxidizer, it burns a combination of oxygen and nitrous oxide that reacts better with the biofuel. bluShift keeps the exact formula for its fuel a secret, but it has shared that its fuel is based on ethanol, a corn-based compound that can be produced inexpensively.
According to bluShift, its biofuel is non-toxic and carbon-neutral, meaning that the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere due to this fuel is offset by an equal amount that is removed from the atmosphere. Plants naturally remove carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis, so growing corn to make ethanol balances out the carbon dioxide that the rockets release.
Growing corn for fuel instead of drilling for nonrenewable petroleum makes bluShift’s fuel sustainable, which is a necessary feature considering the ever-growing number of new entrants into the low orbit launch business. Consumers and business owners also have a reason to be interested in the ecological impact of businesses. Measures such as the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards rate the societal and environmental impact of companies, an important way to determine the sustainability of a company. For example, ESG Investors purposefully invest in companies that fall within certain environmental standards, meaning an environmentally conscious rocket company like blueShift could occupy an open niche to attract capital and investments. This, as well as stricter environmental regulations, could result in a shift in the rocket launch industry. When that time comes, bluShift will be there to lead the way.
Sarah Myers is a Freshman in Georgetown's McDonough School of Business studying Operations & Analytics and Finance. She is interested in studying the ways in which commercial space startups are changing the future of the space industry.