Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO),low Earth orbit (LEO) or further into space. The launch vehicle had a streak of 82 consecutive successful launches between 9 April 2003 and 12 December 2017. Since 2014,Ariane 6,a direct successor system,first launched in 2024.
The Centaur is a family of rocket propelled upper stages that has been in use since 1962. It is currently produced by U.S. launch service provider United Launch Alliance,with one main active version and one version under development. The 3.05 m (10.0 ft) diameter Common Centaur/Centaur III flies as the upper stage of the Atlas V launch vehicle,and the 5.4 m (18 ft) diameter Centaur V has been developed as the upper stage of ULA's new Vulcan rocket. Centaur was the first rocket stage to use liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants,a high-energy combination that is ideal for upper stages but has significant handling difficulties.
Proton is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use as of 2023,making it one of the most successful heavy boosters in the history of spaceflight. The components of all Protons are manufactured in the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center factory in Moscow and Chemical Automatics Design Bureau in Voronezh,then transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome,where they are assembled at Site 91 to form the launch vehicle. Following payload integration,the rocket is then brought to the launch pad horizontally by rail,and raised into vertical position for launch.
Titan IIIB was the collective name for a number of derivatives of the Titan II ICBM and Titan III launch vehicle,modified by the addition of an Agena upper stage. It consisted of five separate rockets. The Titan-3B Agena-D was a basic Titan IIIA with an Agena D upper stage. The Titan 23B was a basic Titan II with an Agena upper stage,and the Titan 24B was the same concept,but using the slightly enlarged Titan IIIM rocket as the base. The Titan 33B was a Titan 23B with the Agena enclosed in an enlarged fairing,in order to allow larger payloads to be launched. The final member of the Titan IIIB family was the Titan 34B which was a Titan 24B with the larger fairing used on the Titan 33B.
The Titan IIIC was an expendable launch system used by the United States Air Force from 1965 until 1982. It was the first Titan booster to feature large solid rocket motors and was planned to be used as a launcher for the Dyna-Soar,though the spaceplane was cancelled before it could fly. The majority of the launcher's payloads were DoD satellites,for military communications and early warning,though one flight (ATS-6) was performed by NASA. The Titan IIIC was launched exclusively from Cape Canaveral while its sibling,the Titan IIID,was launched only from Vandenberg AFB.
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles,which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. The Atlas II was a direct evolution of the Atlas I,featuring longer first-stage tanks,higher-performing engines,and the option for strap-on solid rocket boosters. It was designed to launch payloads into low Earth orbit,geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. Sixty-three launches of the Atlas II,IIA and IIAS models were carried out between 1991 and 2004;all sixty-three launches were successes,making the Atlas II a highly reliable space launch system. The Atlas line was continued by the Atlas III,used between 2000 and 2005,and the Atlas V,which is still in use as of 2024.
The Payload Assist Module (PAM) is a modular upper stage designed and built by McDonnell Douglas (Boeing),using Thiokol Star-series solid propellant rocket motors. The PAM was used with the Space Shuttle,Delta,and Titan launchers and carried satellites from low Earth orbit to a geostationary transfer orbit or an interplanetary course. The payload was spin stabilized by being mounted on a rotating plate. Originally developed for the Space Shuttle,different versions of the PAM were developed:
The Atlas III was an American orbital launch vehicle,used in the years between 2000 and 2005. It was developed from the highly successful Atlas II rocket and shared many components. It was the first member of the Atlas family since the Atlas A to feature a "normal" staging method,compared to the previous Atlas family members,which were equipped with two jettisonable outboard engines on the first (booster) stage. The Atlas III was developed further to create the Atlas V.
The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS),originally designated the Interim Upper Stage,was a two-stage,solid-fueled space launch system developed by Boeing for the United States Air Force beginning in 1976 for raising payloads from low Earth orbit to higher orbits or interplanetary trajectories following launch aboard a Titan 34D or Titan IV rocket as its upper stage,or from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle as a space tug.
Fregat (Russian:Фрегат,lit. 'frigate') is an upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin in the 1990s,which is used in some Soyuz and Zenit launch vehicles,but is universal and can be used as a part of a medium and heavy class launch vehicles. Fregat became operational in February 2000. Its liquid propellant engine uses UDMH and N2O4. Fregat's success rate is 97.3%,(with two failures and one partial failure),which makes it one of the most reliable upper stages in the world. Fregat has successfully delivered more than 300 payloads into different orbits. It remains the only upper stage in the world that can place its payload into three or more different orbits in a single launch.
Thor was a US space launch vehicle derived from the PGM-17 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile. The Thor rocket was the first member of the Delta rocket family of space launch vehicles. The last launch of a direct derivative of the Thor missile occurred in 2018 as the first stage of the final Delta II.
The Proton-M,(Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or 8K82KM,is an expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet-developed Proton. It is built by Khrunichev,and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Commercial launches are marketed by International Launch Services (ILS),and generally use Site 200/39. The first Proton-M launch occurred on 7 April 2001.
The Atlas I was a US expendable launch system manufactured by General Dynamics in the 1990s to launch a variety of satellites. It was largely a commercial rebrand of the Atlas G,but did feature several electrical and guidance improvements. Atlas I did not feature any major payload capacity improvements over its predecessor but did offer a larger payload fairing option. Eleven launches took place,with three failures.
The Delta IV Heavy was an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle,the largest type of the Delta IV family. It was the world's third highest-capacity launch vehicle in operation at the time of its retirement in 2024,behind NASA's Space Launch System and SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and closely followed by CASC's Long March 5. It was manufactured by United Launch Alliance (ULA) and was first launched in 2004. ULA retired the Delta IV Heavy in 2024. Future ULA launches will use the new Vulcan Centaur rocket. Delta IV's final flight was on 9 April 2024.
Minotaur IV,also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Northrop Grumman Space Systems,and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010,carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle. The first orbital launch occurred on 26 September 2010 with the SBSS satellite for the United States Air Force.
The Atlas E/F was an American expendable launch system and sounding rocket built using parts of decommissioned SM-65 Atlas missiles. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets.
The EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) is an adapter for launching secondary payloads on orbital launch vehicles.
The Blok DM-03,GRAU index 11S861-03,is a Russian upper stage used as an optional fourth stage on the Proton-M and Angara A5 heavy-lift rockets. Three have been launched,the first in December 2010;the first two launches failed before fourth stage ignition,the first as a result of a problem with the Blok DM's fuel load. Some versions are also known as Orion.
Liquid Fly-back Booster (LFBB) was a German Aerospace Center's (DLR's) project concept to develop a liquid rocket booster capable of reuse for Ariane 1 in order to significantly reduce the high cost of space transportation and increase environmental friendliness. lrb would replace the existing liquid rocket boosters,providing main thrust during the countdown. Once separated,two winged boosters would perform an atmospheric entry,go back autonomously to the French Guiana,and land horizontally on the airport like an aeroplane.
The Able rocket stage was a rocket stage manufactured in the United States by Aerojet as the second of three stages of the Vanguard rocket used in the Vanguard project from 1957 to 1959. The rocket engine used nitric acid and UDMH as rocket propellants. The Able rocket stage was discontinued in 1960. The improved Ablestar version was used as the upper stage of the Thor-Ablestar two stage launcher. The Ablestar second stage was an enlarged version of the Able rocket stage,which gave the Thor-Ablestar a greater payload capacity compared to the earlier Thor-Able. It also incorporated restart capabilities,allowing a multiple-burn trajectory to be flown,further increasing payload,or allowing the rocket to reach different orbits. It was the first rocket to be developed with such a capability and development of the stage took a mere eight months.
