When the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) SpaceX Starship upper stage crashed into the Indian Ocean last week during its third test flight, environmentally conscious observers wondered whether the stainless-steel vehicle, perhaps containing hundreds of kilograms of residual fuel, could endanger marine life. The good news is — not really. Starship uses one of the most environmentally friendly fuel combinations available. Still, sustainability experts warn that the rocket is not without its problems.
"Debris and fuel [from the latest Starship launch] are a drop in the ocean," Tommaso Sgobba, executive director of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, told Space.com.
