Explosives and propellants: What to track
Safety records, toxic hydrazine rules and mining demand
What this tab covers The attributes worth tracking regularly, with the latest value, the direction of travel and why each matters.Track safety and regulation first, then mining demand and the shift to less toxic propellants.
| Category | Attribute | Latest | Trend | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Techno-economic | Market demand and margins (in place of LCOS) | Orica FY2025 revenue AUD 8.14 bn (up 6%), EBIT AUD 992 m (up 23%)8 | ↗ improving | Explosives demand tracks mining, including transition metals. |
| Technical | Storage stability and boil-off (in place of state of health) | LH2 storage boil-off down from 0.0625% to at most 0.048% a day at NASA LC-39B7 | ↗ improving | Losses and degradation decide how long stocks can be held safely. |
| Supply chain | Toxic propellant dependence | Hydrazine on REACH candidate list since 2011; space industry seeks exemption from any future authorisation requirement6 | → stable | Regulatory risk to satellite supply chains. |
| Compliance | Major-hazard compliance | Seveso III: explosives (P1a) 10/50 t; ammonium nitrate 10/50 t to 5,000/10,000 t by grade3 | → stable | Licensing thresholds shape storage size and location. |
| Safety | Safety record | Orica: zero fatalities, 14 loss-of-containment events (FY2025)8 | ↗ improving | Leading indicator of catastrophic risk. |
| Impact | Production emissions | Orica net Scope 1+2 of 1,331 kt CO2e, 41% below 2019 (gross 51% below)8 | ↗ improving | Ammonium nitrate production is the main climate footprint. |
Sources
- Directive 2012/18/EU (Seveso III), Annex I legislation.gov.uk (EU directive text as adopted), 2012
- Revised common position of the European space industry on the exemption of propellant-related use of hydrazine Eurospace, 2020
- New LH2 sphere at LC-39B (Fesmire and Swanger, NASA Kennedy Space Center) US DOE / NASA, 2021
- Orica Annual Report 2025 Orica Limited, 2025