VELIKY NOVGOROD, August 4. /TASS/. Spacecraft emissions in the upper atmosphere may affect the average annual temperature increase rate, Russian Special Presidential Representative on Digital and Technological Development Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

"It is obvious that the development of space tourism and private space businesses would contribute greatly to the increase of the average annual temperature. Methane fuel would contribute less than 10%. The stuff that burns down at the launch level is not a problem. The problem is the things included in the near space exploration model: the emissions that appear in the upper atmosphere, in the stratosphere, in the near space. They don’t go anywhere," he said.

The official noted that these emissions have "an extremely significant effect on the carbon trail and the so-called greenhouse effect."

"It appears insignificant today, but it could become an extremely negative story in about 10 years as the number of launches and the time spent in the orbit grows exponentially, as the currently nonexistent space logistics systems would appear in the next five years.".