Emerging Technologies Modern Flying News Space Sustainability

Could ‘SpaceSAF’ Enable a Sustainable Future for Spaceflight?

New solution introduced by Salt Lake City-based CleanJoule promises to reduce spaceflight emissions while improving fuel energy density.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 10:00 AM ET

Verified

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket runs on 27 Merlin engineers powered by RP-1, a common rocket propellant for which CleanJoule says it has developed a “drop-in” replacement. [Courtesy: SpaceX/Flickr]

Key Takeaways:

CleanJoule has introduced SpaceSAF, a 100% sustainable "drop-in" replacement for traditional rocket propellants like RP-1, designed to reduce emissions and offer 4% higher energy density for spaceflight.
The company's core technology utilizes waste biomass to create high-density hydrocarbons, enabling both SpaceSAF and CycloSAF, a 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for commercial flights.
CycloSAF aims to overcome current SAF blending limitations, providing 10% higher energy content per unit volume than conventional jet fuel or other SAFs, thereby accelerating the aviation sector's path to full decarbonization.

See a mistake? Contact us.

To reach net-zero emissions by 2050—a target widely held by members of an aviation industry that is responsible for about 2 percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally—researchers estimate that sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) will contribute to about 65 percent of that goal.

Efforts to promote the switch to SAF have largely focused on the commercial aviation sector. But one Utah-based firm is looking at a different kind of aviation: spaceflight.

Jack Daleo

Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel—and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.