The space sector is on the rise, with companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic making large investments in commercial spaceflights, and organisations like Nasa continuing to power missions to space. However, the impact of such launches on the Earth’s atmosphere is still poorly understood.

A team of researchers from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus set out to study the extent to which rockets' propulsion emissions can create significant heating and compositional changes in the atmosphere. To do so, the scientists investigated the heat and mass transfer and rapid mixing of the combustion byproducts for altitudes up to 67km into the atmosphere.

The findings of the study, published in Physics of Fluids, showed that rockets can have a significant impact on the Earth’s atmosphere.

"We show that pollution from rockets should not be underestimated, as frequent future rocket launches could have a significant cumulative effect on the Earth...