Launching fireworks in a near-zero-oxygen environment is completely feasible, says Stefan Bossmann, a chemist and rocket enthusiast at Kansas State University: “That would be no problem at all. They have an oxidizer, and they have a reductant.” That chemistry is not reliant upon oxygen, and similar reactions are responsible for powering space-shuttle thrusters and other large space-borne rockets.

The trouble would come after launch, when the bursting charge releases and ignites the colorant pellets. The reaction that imparts a rocket’s metals and metal salts with enough energy to change pretty colors requires oxygen.