The stratosphere gets its name because it is stratified, or layered: as elevation increases, the stratosphere gets warmer. The stratosphere increases in warmth with elevation because ozone gases in the upper layers absorb intense ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

Antarctic

Scientist Joseph C. Farman and his colleagues discovered that atmospheric ozone over Antarctica had reduced by 40 percent. Certain human-made substances had reached the stratosphere and disrupted the ozone layer to the point of depletion, creating an extremely thin section commonly known as the ozone hole.

Research by Cambridge University shows that it is not increased pollution but a side effect of climate change that is making ozone depletion worse. At high altitudes, 50% of the protective layer had been destroyed.

The global quantities of these gas emissions from rockets, even at increased launch rates, do not significantly affect the global climate or ozone layer, and they are dwarfed by atmospheric inputs from other sources [Larson et al., 2017].

Many rockets are, however, propelled by liquid hydrogen fuel, which produces ‘clean’ water vapour exhaust, although the production of hydrogen itself can cause significant carbon emissions. Rocket engines release trace gases into the upper atmosphere that contribute to ozone depletion, as well as particles of soot.

Besides greenhouse gas pollution, kerosene-fueled rockets transport large amounts of black carbon, also known as soot, into the upper layers of the atmosphere. There, it remains for a long time, creating an umbrella that may add to global warming. The urgency to clean up rocket emissions is intensifying.

It Uses Methane. While on the subject of the engine, another noteworthy fact is that the Raptors use methane as their primary fuel source. Historically, the two rocket fuels of choice are kerosene (also known as RP-1) and hydrogen. For example, the Saturn V used kerosene, and the Space Shuttle used hydrogen.

SpaceX Merlin

Last December, the SpaceX CEO also praised the design of Russia’s RD-180 liquid-fueled rocket engine. …

F-1 engine

US Rocketry Chief Offers Novel Explanation for Why America Continues to Buy Russia’s RD-180 Engines. Nearly a decade after the decommissioning of the Space Shuttle programme, NASA and its allies continue to depend on Russian Soyuz rockets to take crews to the International Space Station.

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