The Space Shuttle is a retired,partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS),taken from the 1969 plan led by U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.
Titan was a family of United States expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. The Titan I and Titan II were part of the US Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fleet until 1987. The space launch vehicle versions contributed the majority of the 368 Titan launches,including all the Project Gemini crewed flights of the mid-1960s. Titan vehicles were also used to lift US military payloads as well as civilian agency reconnaissance satellites and to send interplanetary scientific probes throughout the Solar System.
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.
The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at an assembly plant located in Kearny Mesa,San Diego.
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket stages,each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage;a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or attached next to each other. Two-stage rockets are quite common,but rockets with as many as five separate stages have been successfully launched.
Delta II was an expendable launch system,originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas,and sometimes known as the Thorad Delta 1. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family,derived directly from the Delta 3000,and entered service in 1989. There were two main variants,the Delta 6000 and Delta 7000,with the latter also having "Light" and "Heavy" subvariants. During its career,Delta II flew several notable payloads,including 24 Global Positioning System (GPS) Block II satellites,several dozen NASA payloads,and 60 Iridium communication satellites. The rocket flew its final mission,ICESat-2,on 15 September 2018,earning the launch vehicle a streak of 100 successful missions in a row,with the last failure being GPS IIR-1 in 1997. In the late 1990s,Delta II was developed further into the unsuccessful Delta III,which was in turn developed into the more capable and successful Delta IV,though the latter shares little heritage with the original Thor and Delta rockets.
The Delta rocket family was a versatile range of American rocket-powered expendable launch systems that provided space launch capability in the United States from 1960 to 2024. Japan also launched license-built derivatives from 1975 to 1992. More than 300 Delta rockets were launched with a 95% success rate. The series was phased out in favor of the Vulcan Centaur,with the Delta IV Heavy rocket's last launch occurring on April 9,2024.
Delta IV was a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family. It flew 45 missions from 2002 to 2024. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense,Space and Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program,the Delta IV became a United Launch Alliance (ULA) product in 2006. The Delta IV was primarily a launch vehicle for United States Air Force (USAF) military payloads,but was also used to launch a number of United States government non-military payloads and a single commercial satellite.
Titan IV was a family of heavy-lift space launch vehicles developed by Martin Marietta and operated by the United States Air Force from 1989 to 2005. Launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base,California.
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.
Delta III was an expendable launch vehicle made by McDonnell Douglas. Development was canceled before the vehicle became operational. The vehicle is the third generation of the Delta rocket family,developed from the highly successful Delta II to help meet the launch demand of larger satellites. While the Delta III never had a successful launch,some of the technologies developed were used in its successor,the Delta IV.
The Atlas-Centaur was a United States expendable launch vehicle derived from the SM-65 Atlas D missile. The vehicle featured a Centaur upper stage,the first such stage to use high-performance liquid hydrogen as fuel. Launches were conducted from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. After a strenuous flight test program,Atlas-Centaur went on to launch several crucial spaceflight missions for the United States,including Surveyor 1,and Pioneer 10/11. The vehicle would be continuously developed and improved into the 1990s,with the last direct descendant being the highly successful Atlas II.
Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was designed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. It is used for DoD,NASA,and commercial payloads. It is America's longest-serving active rocket. After 87 launches,in August 2021 ULA announced that Atlas V would be retired,and all 29 remaining launches had been sold. As of July 2024,15 launches remain. Production ceased in 2024. Other future ULA launches will use the Vulcan Centaur rocket.
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.
Atlas is a family of US missiles and space launch vehicles that originated with the SM-65 Atlas. The Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program was initiated in the late 1950s under the Convair Division of General Dynamics. Atlas was a liquid propellant rocket burning RP-1 kerosene fuel with liquid oxygen in three engines configured in an unusual "stage-and-a-half" or "parallel staging" design:two outboard booster engines were jettisoned along with supporting structures during ascent,while the center sustainer engine,propellant tanks and other structural elements remained connected through propellant depletion and engine shutdown.
Studied in 1968 by Marshall Space Flight Center,the Saturn V-B was considered an interesting vehicle concept because it nearly represents a single-stage to orbit booster,but is actually a stage and a half booster just like the Atlas. The booster would achieve liftoff via five regular F-1 engines;four of the five engines on the Saturn V-B would be jettisoned and could be fully recoverable,with the sustainer stage on the rocket continuing the flight into orbit. The rocket could have had a good launch capability similar to that of the Space Shuttle if it was constructed,but it never flew.
The Atlas G,also known as Atlas G Centaur-D1AR was an American expendable launch system derived from the Atlas-Centaur. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets and was used to launch seven communication satellites during the mid to late 1980s. Atlas G consisted of an improved Atlas core with modernized avionics and stretched propellant tanks. The Centaur stage also had several updated components and other technical improvements. Atlas G flew 7 times,with all missions aiming to go to a geostationary transfer orbit. It was replaced by the near-identical Atlas I,which had an improved guidance system and offered a larger payload fairing.
The Atlas SLV-3,or SLV-3 Atlas was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas / SM-65D Atlas missile. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets.
During the lifetime of the Space Shuttle,Rockwell International and many other organizations studied various Space Shuttle designs. These involved different ways of increasing cargo and crew capacity,as well as investigating further reusability. A large focus of these designs were related to developing new shuttle boosters and improvements to the central tank,but also looked to expand NASA's ability to launch deep space missions and build modular space stations. Many of these concepts and studies would shape the concepts and programs of the 2000s such as the Constellation,Orbital Space Plane Program,and Artemis program.
