Japan is preparing to use cow dung as rocket fuel. Japan’s space industry tested a prototype rocket engine on Thursday. This rocket fuel is prepared from cow dung. This rocket has been flown using biomethane prepared from cow dung.
Fueled by biomethane fuel, the rocket threw a blue and orange flame 10–15 meters (30–50 ft) from an open hangar door for about 10 seconds in Taqi. Takahiro Inagawa, chief executive of Interstellar Technologies, said the biomethane used was made entirely from cow dung at two local dairy farms.
“We are doing this not just because it is good for the environment but because it can be produced locally,” Inagawa said. It is very economical and is a fuel with good performance and purity. We are the first private business to do this, but I don’t think it would be a stretch to assume that it will be replicated worldwide. I can say that it can be used more in the future.
This Technology Will Also Be Used In satellites!
Interstellar Technologies and Air Water firm, which launches rockets from cow dung, believes satellites can also be established in space using this fuel. These firms work closely with local farmers with the equipment to process cow dung into biogas on their farms. Air Water collects the biogas and then turns it into rocket fuel.
Tomohiro Nishikawa, an engineer at Air Water, said Japan is short on resources and must secure domestically produced, carbon-neutral energy. The dung obtained from the cows of this region has a lot of potential.
Japan’s space agency JAXA launched its “Moon Sniper” mission in September, but two of its tasks failed in the last two years. Japan has also been rocked by accidents following the launch of the H3 and the normally reliable solid-fuel Epsilon last October. In July, a test launch of the Epsilon S rocket, an improved version of Epsilon, resulted in an explosion 50 seconds after launch. In such a situation, biomethane can greatly support Japan’s Space Agency.
