Editors’ Choice
2024 Skyscraper Competition
Taoning Wen, Jaoning Zhang, Yuchen Zhang
China
Earth is the cradle of humanity, but humans cannot live in the cradle forever. The Earth’s ecosystem is just a speck in the vast ocean of the universe, small and fragile. Global climate change, rising sea levels, widespread infectious diseases, and even nuclear war… These issues have become the Sword of Damocles hanging over humanity’s head. Some people are looking to the universe: enabling humans to fly out of Earth in large numbers, move to other planets, and become an interstellar civilization, thereby greatly strengthening their resistance to environmental changes.
With the development of aviation technology in recent years, reusable rockets have become a hot topic. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 completed its first recovery on December 21, 2015, marking the transition of reusable rockets from theory to reality. Its emergence and maturity have greatly reduced the cost of rocket launches, making it possible to launch rockets on a large scale. Large-scale reusable rockets, represented by Starship, are undoubtedly the best choice for humans to leave Earth in large numbers under current technology. It can be foreseen that in the near future, commercial spaceflight and even space migration will form a certain scale based on reusable rockets.
However, the increasingly frequent rocket launches also cause huge environmental damage. According to a new study published by NOAA in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, if the number of rocket launches using hydrocarbon fuels increases by 10 times, it will damage the ozone layer and even change atmospheric circulation patterns. Pollution emissions during rocket launches and entry into the stratosphere are even more severe. At a time when humans cannot completely separate from the Earth’s environment, it is still necessary to find a suitable balance between protecting the Earth’s environment and exploring space.
In the face of such contradictions, we plan to establish a spaceport based on travel using reusable rockets, to find suitable spatial patterns and technological means for efficient rocket launches, to ensure large numbers of people can comfortably wait and board in an orderly manner, and to improve the process of commercial space operations. At the same time, we will treat the emissions and smoke produced during rocket launches in an environmentally friendly way, and use high-altitude drones to absorb the carbon black particles emitted into the stratosphere during rocket launches. This will ensure the normal activities of spaceport personnel while reducing environmental pollution from rocket launches.
We hope to build a green, comfortable, and technologically advanced starship city called StellarEquilibrium based on the “Starship” heavy rocket for commercial space projects. By setting our sights on the vastness of space, we aim to respond to the various crises and challenges facing Earth at present.
