SpaceX will turn atmospheric CO2 into rocket fuel

"SpaceX is starting a program to take CO2 out of the atmosphere and turn it into rocket fuel." This is the statement of CEO Elon Musk in a status line posted on his personal Twitter page.

He adds that using carbon dioxide to power space travel will also play a very important role for missions to Mars.

Reacting to the above statement, astrophysicist Scott Manley said that converting CO2 to power spacecraft is a big challenge.

But Eric Berger, editor at science and technology news site Ars Technica, said Musk's program would also help address growing concerns about the climate impacts of rocket launches.

It is known that CO2 (Carbon dioxide) is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels, and is the main greenhouse gas contributing to the climate crisis. So by taking CO2 in the atmosphere and turning it into rocket fuel, Elon Musk shot one arrow but hit two targets, while contributing to reducing harmful emissions for the Earth and at the same time making his own fuel. whether rockets serve the purpose of travel.

This action of the owner of the SpaceX airline is highly appreciated by environmentalists. However, it is still unclear how SpaceX does to effectively remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket during a launch into Earth's orbit

According to Bloomberg, the new initiative to produce rocket fuel will be based on a technology called DAC (direct air capture), which is still in the early stages of development. Earlier this year, Elon Musk also announced that he would donate $ 100 million to the XPrize Carbon Removal award with the goal of finding the best carbon capture technology.

According to Business Insiders, once, Elon Musk expressed his desire to build a rocket fuel factory using CO2 in the atmosphere and act like a mini space station. Perhaps, this is how he implemented his idea.

Earlier, SpaceX also revealed plans to filter natural gas in the Texas area (USA) and use it to power spacecraft and rockets.