Amid the Covid-19 cases again surges in the US, the space sector could be affected as it faces liquid oxygen shortage required to carry out rocket launches. Amid the rising cases of COVID-19 from the Delta variant, the demands for liquid oxygen.
It has been noted that hospitals rely on liquid oxygen to be used in respirators for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell pointed to the likely development at the 36th annual Space Symposium, hinting at possible delays in launches due to the shortage.
Shotwell said adding that the company is however going to ensure that hospitals have liquid oxygen said, “We’re actually going to be impacted this year with the lack of liquid oxygen for launch.” “But for anybody that has liquid oxygen to spare, you can send me an email,” she was quoted as saying by space.com.
The commercial operation of space transport has been aced by SpaceX by successfully launching and returning cargo and astronauts from the International Space Station. The company’s Falcon-9 returnable rockets, which are the workhorses driving its operation, use Merlin engines that require liquid propellant to generate thrust.
The rocket fuel is mixed with an oxidiser in the combustion chamber, where they react chemically to make new molecules, including a gas. The company is observing at a series of launches including one over the weekend as it resupplies cargo to the Space Station.
However, long-term plans can be affected by a shortage of liquid oxygen. The Elon Musk-led company had recently taken a contract from Nasa to launch its Europa Clipper Mission aimed to study the Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter.
Why is Liquid Oxygen needed in rockets?
These days the rockets are designed to work with liquids engines, particularly liquid engines because they use liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) serves as the oxidiser.
According to Nasa, Hydrogen, the fuel for the main engines, is the lightest element and normally exists as a gas. Gases especially lightweight hydrogen are low-density, which means a little of it takes up a lot of space. Hydrogen gas is therefore turned into liquid.
“Although it’s denser than hydrogen, oxygen also needs to be compressed into a liquid to fit in a smaller, lighter tank. To transform oxygen into its liquid state, it is cooled to a temperature of 183 degrees Celsius,” Nasa said.
The LH2 and LOX are pumped into the combustion chamber of each engine, once in the tanks and with the launch countdown nearing zero. When the catalyst is ignited, the hydrogen reacts explosively with oxygen releasing a massive amount of energy.
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