White Paper
Orbital Launches
Global launch rates are in the beginning of an exponential incline due to increasing government programmes, and emerging commercial launch industry.
The energy provided to launch into orbit comes from the use of propellants. These propellants are seperated into different categories for different launch vehicles.
| Category | Propellant | Chemical Formula | Launch Vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Fuels | RP-1 (refined kerosene) | C₁₂H₂₆ | Falcon 9, Atlas V, Saturn I |
| Liquid Hydrogen | H₂ | Ariane 5, Delta IV | |
| Liquid Methane | CH₄ | Starship, ULA Vulcan, Blue Origin | |
| Ethanol | C₂H₅OH | V-2 rocket, Redstone | |
| Liquid Oxidizers | Liquid Oxygen (LOX) | O₂ | Falcon 9, Saturn V, Ariane 5, Starship, Atlas V |
| Nitrogen Tetroxide | N₂O₄ | Soyuz, Long March, Proton | |
| Hypergolic Fuels | Hydrazine | N₂H₄ | Many satellite thrusters |
| Monomethylhydrazine (MMH) | CH₃NHNH₂ | Cassini, Voyager | |
| Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) | (CH₃)₂NNH₂ | Proton, Long March | |
| Solid Propellants | Ammonium Perchlorate + Aluminum + HTPB (C₄H₆ polymer) | Composite mixture (APCP) | Ariane 5 boosters, Vega |
| Emerging Propellants | Hydrogen Peroxide (High-test, >90%) | H₂O₂ | X-15 rocket plane, Black Arrow (UK) |
| Hydroxylammonium Nitrate (HAN) | NH₃OHNO₃ | NASA GPIM (Falcon Heavy 2019) | |
| Ammonium Dinitramide (ADN) | NH₄N(NO₂)₂ | Prisma satellite (Sweden), several ESA/SSC test spacecraft |
Currently, these propellants are toxic, expensive to handle, and environmentally damaging. This was considered appropriate whilst the industry was small, but becomes a problem as the industry scales. An analogy would be aviation fuel in the aviation sector, and that consumption has grown exponentially and now sustainable alternatives need to be found e.g. the SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) industry
This trend in propellants hasnt gone unnoticed. The EU banned hydrazine-based thrusters post-2030, NASA and ESA have active green propellant programs, and some companies in the space sector are commercialising alternative fuel use.
Orbital Energies
A transition toward sustainable rocket propellants is inevitable — not only for environmental and regulatory reasons but also for cost, safety, and scalability.
Orbital Energies was founded to address this inevitability
Contact
For questions or collaboration opportunities, email hello@orbitalenergies.com.