Development of a Qualitative Model for Predicting Soil Acidification due to Solid Rocket Motor Exhaust

Abstract

Increasing rocket launch rates coincide with growing concerns around climate change and pollution. Few prior efforts have attempted to assess the long-term environmental impacts of rocket launches, and those that did, primarily during the US Space Shuttle program, voiced concerns about HCl depositions from solid rocket motors. Despite solid rocket motors making up a small fraction of the market today, their HCl depositions can result in environmental acidification which disrupts food chains and destabilizes ecosystems. Modeling these effects holds value as some regions are more resilient to acidification than others. This work details a qualitative model which uses a small, readily available collection of data inputs, allowing the model to cover the majority of the continental United States. The results depict regions of resiliency/vulnerability to soil acidification relative to one another. Leveraging studies in adjacent fields (e.g., acid rain) aids in discerning what effects these regions would experience. A lack of information regarding the long-term impacts of acidification limits the scope of this effort. However, the qualitative results can still aid in guiding launch site selection processes.