Can we remake plastic waste into rocket fuel?

Scientists from one space company figured out how to remake plastic waste into rocket fuel that has already been successfully tested. This type of rocket fuel can be used in some small launches like delivering microsatellites and so on... The new type of fuel for rockets might be another step towards solving environmental issues.

a reply to: james00

A link to a story or the company would be helpful.
Or even the name of the company so we can at least Google search it for ourselves.

originally posted by: james00
Scientists from one space company figured out how to remake plastic waste into rocket fuel that has already been successfully tested. This type of rocket fuel can be used in some small launches like delivering microsatellites and so on... The new type of fuel for rockets might be another step towards solving environmental issues.

Id imagine to make a difference it needs to be something we use a lot more. Rocket fuel for microsatellites is a very niche market.

Not to mention we already got a chit load of stuff floating around in earth's orbit.

a reply to: butcherguy


www.forbes.com... /?sh=192742755540

a reply to: james00

We have billions of pounds of plastic and this would use a few thousand pounds of plastic so it's not exactly useful in the long run

a reply to: Bluntone22

From a cost perspective it's better than nothing I guess.

My concern is the footprint to change it from waste to fuel, plus I'm puzzled does the waste change form or actually disappear?

Else wouldn't the money invested in making this fuel better invested in a biodegradable plastic?

I remember seeing a Chinese startup company a few years ago where you could chuck any plastics into one of their machines and it broke it all down to it's original parts to re manufacture.
e.g the original oils and petroleum etc.

a reply to: Bluntone22
Yeah, this is the point. Only particular types of plastic waste can be used to be converted into rocket fuel. The following types like: Polypropylene (PP). Polyester (PE). Polystyrene (PS) and its mixtures and analogs

This type of rocket fuel has already been tested. This test has shown that the new type of rocket fuel ( remade of plastic )is 1% - 3% better than kerosene by its energy characteristics.

a reply to: james00

Polypropylene (PP). Polyester (PE). Polystyrene (PS) and its mixtures and analogs

As Polystyrene is still used in a lot of packaging and is not commonly recycled converting it to rocket fuel would certainly give us something useful to do with it.

Yeah, if the ecosene fuel will be used by many space companies all around the world, we can recycle plastic waste that pollutes our environment. So let`s hope for the best

I am not sure that ecosene fuel can be used for some long space journeys, but I guess even if space agencies use this type of fuel for some small launches like delivering microsatellites in the orbit or for some microgravity missions and experiments.

The end of the oil era is near. see IEA forecasts. So... the fuel remade from plastic might be a good idea to solve that issue.
Plastic is everywhere in our life. Plastic recycling is an absolute necessity. We don't know do without.