Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Poised to Rocket: Modeling the Environmental Impact of LEO Satellite Constellations

Rushil Kukreja , Edward J Oughton, Richard Linares

The proliferation of satellite megaconstellations in low Earth orbit (LEO) represents a significant advancement in global broadband connectivity. However, we urgently need to understand the potential environmental impacts, particularly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with these constellations. This study addresses a critical gap in modeling current and future GHG emissions by developing a comprehensive open-source life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, applied to 10 launch vehicles and 15 megaconstellations. Our analysis reveals that the production of launch vehicles and propellant combustion during launch events contribute most significantly to overall GHG emissions, accounting for 72.6% of life cycle emissions. Among the rockets analyzed, reusable vehicles like Falcon-9 and Starship demonstrate 95.4% lower production emissions compared to non-reusable alternatives, highlighting the environmental benefits of reusability in space technology. The findings underscore the importance of launch vehicle and satellite design choices to minimize potential environmental impacts. The Open-source Rocket and Constellation Lifecycle Emissions (ORACLE) repository is freely available and aims to facilitate further research in this field. This study provides a critical baseline for policymakers and industry stakeholders to develop strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of the space industry, especially satellite megaconstellations.