In June 2008 Flight reported that the European Space Agency had concluded, after some preliminary data, that suborbital passengers have a smaller carbon footprint than those that travel on airliners
At the time Flight was told that the data would not be released because it was preliminary and that further study was required
Speaking to ESA's head of general studies, Geraldine Naja-Corbin yesterday (1 April) at the Space Foundation's 25th National Space Symposium Hyperbola asked about the suborbital tourism study, if it had concluded and if the data mentioned last year could be released
But Naja-Corbin says the study is still ongoing and the data is still being with held, so its still a case of watch this space
At the time Flight was told that the data would not be released because it was preliminary and that further study was required
Speaking to ESA's head of general studies, Geraldine Naja-Corbin yesterday (1 April) at the Space Foundation's 25th National Space Symposium Hyperbola asked about the suborbital tourism study, if it had concluded and if the data mentioned last year could be released
But Naja-Corbin says the study is still ongoing and the data is still being with held, so its still a case of watch this space
on April 3, 2009 4:59 PM | Reply
I believe that they're comparing a 5 minute 100km spaceflight with a transatlantic journey. The calculations I've done show that yes, the spaceflight would take a lot less fuel, and release much less CO2.
However, it's not true for suborbital transportation; it takes a LOT more energy to GO somewhere via rocket than to use a jet engine, for fundamental reasons.