A number of different spacecraft have been used to carry cargo to and from space stations.
A number of different spacecraft have been used to carry cargo to and from space stations.
| Spacecraft under development | |
| Spacecraft is operational or inactive | |
| Retired or cancelled spacecraft | |
| § | Pressurized / Unpressurized payload capacity |
| Spacecraft | Origin | Manufacturer | Launch system | Length (m) | Dry mass (kg) | Launch mass (kg) | Payload (kg) § | Payload volume (m3) § | Return payload (kg) | Diameter (m) | Generated power (W) | Automated docking | Status (No. Flights) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TKS |  Soviet Union | TsKBM | Proton-K | 17.51 | 13,688 | 21,620 | 12,600 | 4.15 | 2,400 | No | Retired (4) | ||
| Progress 7K-TG | Soviet Union | Energia | Soyuz-U | None | No | Retired (43) | |||||||
| Progress-M 11F615A55 | Soviet Union  Russia | Energia | Soyuz-U Soyuz-U2 | 7.2 | 7,130 | 2,600 | 7.6 | 150 [lower-alpha 1] | 2.72 | 600 [1] | Yes | Retired (66) | |
| Progress-M1 | Russia | Energia | Soyuz-U Soyuz-FG | None | Yes | Retired (11) | |||||||
| Progress-M 11F615A60 | Russia | Energia | Soyuz-U Soyuz-2.1a | 7.2 | 7,150 | 2,230 | 7.6 | None | 2.72 | 700 | Yes | Retired (27 + 2 failed) | |
| Cygnus (standard) |  USA | Orbital | Antares 1x0 | 5.14 | 1,500 [2] | 2,000 [2] | 18.9 [2] | None | 3.07 | 3,500 [3] | No | Retired (3 + 1 failed) | |
| Dragon (reusable) | USA | SpaceX | Falcon 9 | 6.1 | 4,200 [4] | 10,200 [lower-alpha 2] | 3,310 (max) 2,200 (ave) [lower-alpha 3] [5] | 10.0 / (14 or 34) [lower-alpha 4] [6] | 3,000 [lower-alpha 5] [7] | 3.7 | 2,000 [8] | No | Retired (19 + 1 failed) [9] |
| ATV |  Europe | EADS | Ariane 5ES | 10.3 | 10,470 [10] | 20,750 [10] | 7,667 [10] | 48 | None | 4.5 | 3,800 [11] | Yes | Retired (5) |
| HTV |  Japan | JAXA | H-IIB | 10 | 10,500 [12] | 16,500 [12] | 3,000 / 1,000 [12] | 14 / 16 [12] | 20 [lower-alpha 6] [13] | 4.4 | 200 | No | Retired (9) |
| Tianzhou (basic) |  China | CAST | Long March 7 | 10.6 | 13,500 | 6,900 [lower-alpha 7] [14] | 18.1 | None | 3.35 | Yes | Retired (5) | ||
| Progress-MS | Russia | Energia | Soyuz-U Soyuz-2.1a | 7.2 | 7,150 | 2,230 | None | Yes | Operational [15] | ||||
| Dragon 2 cargo (reusable) | USA | SpaceX | Falcon 9 | 8.1 | 6,400 | 3,307 [5] | 9.3 / 37 | 2,507 [5] | 4.0 | Yes | Operational | ||
| Cygnus (enhanced) | USA | Northrop Grumman | Antares 230 Antares 230+ Atlas V 401 Antares 330 Falcon 9 | 6.34 | 1,800 [16] | 3,750 | 27 [16] | None | 3.07 | No | Operational | ||
| Tianzhou (improved) | China | CAST | Long March 7 | 10.6 | 14,000 | 7,400 [lower-alpha 8] [14] | 22.5(~40 total) | None | 3.35 | Yes | Operational | ||
| Dream Chaser Cargo System (reusable) | USA | Sierra Space | Vulcan Centaur | 16.8 [17] | 5,000 / 500 [18] | 1,750 [18] | Yes | Development | |||||
| HTV-X | Japan | JAXA | H3 Launch Vehicle [19] | 10 [lower-alpha 9] | 8,300 | 16,000, combined [20] | 4,069 / 1,750 | 78 [lower-alpha 10] | 4.4 | 1,000 | No [lower-alpha 11] | Development [21] | |
| Cygnus (Mission B) | USA | Northrop Grumman | Antares 330 | 5,000 | |||||||||
| Dragon XL | USA | SpaceX | Falcon 9 | 5,000 [22] | None | Yes [22] | Development [23] | ||||||
| Argo | Europe | Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) | Launch Vehicle Ambiguous | 3,400 | <13 | Greater than or equal to 1 Ton [24] | Yes | Development [25] | |||||
| NYX | Europe | The Exploration Company | Launch Vehicle Ambiguous | 4,000 | 2500 pressurized and 100 unpressurized [26] | Yes | Development [27] |
The Progress is a Russian expendable cargo spacecraft. Its purpose is to deliver the supplies needed to sustain a human presence in orbit. While it does not carry a crew, it can be boarded by astronauts when docked to a space station, hence it is classified as crewed by its manufacturer. Progress is derived from the crewed Soyuz spacecraft and launches on the same launch vehicle, a Soyuz rocket.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle, originally Ariane Transfer Vehicle or ATV, was an expendable cargo spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), used for space cargo transport in 2008–2015. The ATV design was launched to orbit five times, exclusively by the Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle. It effectively was a larger European counterpart to the Russian Progress cargo spacecraft for carrying upmass to a single destination—the International Space Station (ISS)—but with three times the capacity.
The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), also called Kounotori, is an expendable, automated cargo spacecraft used to resupply the Kibō Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and the International Space Station (ISS). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been working on the design since the early 1990s. The first mission, HTV-1, was originally intended to be launched in 2001. It launched at 17:01 UTC on 10 September 2009 on an H-IIB launch vehicle. The name Kounotori was chosen for the HTV by JAXA because "a white stork carries an image of conveying an important thing, therefore, it precisely expresses the HTV's mission to transport essential materials to the ISS". The HTV is very important for resupplying the ISS because after the retirement of the Space Shuttle it is the only vehicle that can transfer new 41.3 in (105 cm) wide International Standard Payload Racks (ISPRs) and dispose old ISPRs that can fit the 51 in (130 cm) wide tunnels between modules in the US Orbital Segment.
Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station (ISS) are made primarily to deliver cargo, however several Russian modules have also docked to the outpost following uncrewed launches. Resupply missions typically use the Russian Progress spacecraft, European Automated Transfer Vehicles, Japanese Kounotori vehicles, and the American Dragon and Cygnus spacecraft. The primary docking system for Progress spacecraft is the automated Kurs system, with the manual TORU system as a backup. ATVs also use Kurs, however they are not equipped with TORU. The other spacecraft — the Japanese HTV, the SpaceX Dragon and the Northrop Grumman Cygnus — rendezvous with the station before being grappled using Canadarm2 and berthed at the nadir port of the Harmony or Unity module for one to two months. Progress, Cygnus and ATV can remain docked for up to six months. Under CRS phase 2, Cargo Dragon docks autonomously at IDA-2 or 3 as the case may be. As of December 2022, Progress spacecraft have flown most of the uncrewed missions to the ISS.
Dragon is a family of spacecraft developed and produced by American private space transportation company SpaceX. The first family member, later named Dragon 1, flew 23 cargo missions to the ISS between 2010 and 2020 before retiring. This version, not designed to carry astronauts, was funded by NASA with $396 million awarded through the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, with SpaceX announced as a winner of the first round of funding on August 18, 2006.
Cygnus is an expendable American cargo spacecraft developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation but manufactured and launched by Northrop Grumman Space Systems as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It is usually launched by Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility, although three flights were on ULA's Atlas V and three are planned for SpaceX's Falcon 9, in both cases launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It transports supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) following the retirement of the American Space Shuttle. Since August 2000, ISS resupply missions have been regularly flown by the Russian Progress spacecraft, as well as by the European Automated Transfer Vehicle, and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. With the Cygnus spacecraft and the SpaceX Dragon, NASA seeks to increase its partnerships with domestic commercial aviation and aeronautics industry.
Space logistics is "the theory and practice of driving space system design for operability and supportability, and of managing the flow of materiel, services, and information needed throughout a space system lifecycle." It includes terrestrial logistics in support of space travel, including any additional "design and development, acquisition, storage, movement, distribution, maintenance, evacuation, and disposition of space materiel", movement of people in space, and contracting and supplying any required support services for maintaining space travel. The space logistics research and practice primarily focus on the modeling and management of the astro-logistics supply chain from Earth and on to destinations throughout the solar system as well as the system architecture strategies to minimize both logistics requirements and operational costs of human and robotic operations in space.
The International Space Station programme is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the fifteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilisation, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the International Space Station. It was conceived in September 1993 by the United States and Russia after 1980s plans for separate American (Freedom) and Soviet (Mir-2) space stations failed due to budgetary reasons. These agreements tie together the five space agencies and their respective International Space Station programmes and govern how they interact with each other on a daily basis to maintain station operations, from traffic control of spacecraft to and from the station, to utilisation of space and crew time. In March 2010, the International Space Station Program Managers from each of the five partner agencies were presented with Aviation Week's Laureate Award in the Space category, and the ISS programme was awarded the 2009 Collier Trophy.
Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) are a series of flights awarded by NASA for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on commercially operated spacecraft. The first CRS contracts were signed in 2008 and awarded $1.6 billion to SpaceX for twelve cargo Dragon and $1.9 billion to Orbital Sciences for eight Cygnus flights, covering deliveries to 2016. The Falcon 9 and Antares rockets were also developed under the CRS program to deliver cargo spacecraft to the ISS.
HTV-1, also known as the HTV Demonstration Flight or HTV Technical Demonstration Vehicle, was the first flight of the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle, launched in September 2009 to resupply the International Space Station and support the JAXA Kibō module or Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). It was an uncrewed cargo spacecraft carrying a mixture of pressurised and unpressurised cargo to the International Space Station. After a 52-day successful mission, HTV departed the ISS on 31 October 2009 after being released by the station's robotic arm. The spacecraft re-entered in the atmosphere of Earth on 1 November 2009 and disintegrated on re-entry as planned.
Kounotori 2, also known as HTV-2, was launched in January 2011 and was the second flight of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched by the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 2 manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and JAXA. After the supplies were unloaded, Kounotori 2 was loaded with waste material from ISS, including used experiment equipment and used clothes. Kounotori 2 was then unberthed and separated from the ISS and burned up upon reentering the atmosphere on 30 March 2011.
Kounotori 4, also known as HTV-4, was the fourth flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, an uncrewed cargo spacecraft launched in August 2013 to resupply the International Space Station. It launched from Tanegashima Space Center aboard H-IIB No. 4 rocket on 3 August 2013 and connected to ISS by 9 August 2013; it carried 5,400 kilograms (11,900 lb) of cargo. Kounotori 4 undocked on 4 September 2013 and was destroyed by reentry on 7 September 2013.
Jupiter is a proposed space tug spacecraft concept by Lockheed Martin, which was initially conceptualized as a 2015 bid proposal to NASA for an International Space Station (ISS) cargo resupply services contract. The proposal was not accepted by NASA, and future Lockheed plans for the concept are unknown.
Kounotori 9 (こうのとり9号機), also known as HTV-9 was the 9th flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, a robotic cargo spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched on 20 May 2020, at 17:31:00 UTC.
New Space-Station Resupply Vehicle, tentatively called HTV-X, is an uncrewed expendable cargo spacecraft under development by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as the successor of H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). As of December 2023, the first flight is planned to be launched in early 2025 to resupply the International Space Station.
Kounotori 7 (こうのとり7号機), also known as HTV-7, was the seventh flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), an uncrewed cargo spacecraft launched on 22 September 2018 to resupply the International Space Station.
Kounotori 8 (こうのとり8号機), also known as HTV-8 was the 8th flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, a robotic cargo spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station. It was launched on 24 September 2019, 16:05:05 UTC.
TGK PG is an automated cargo spacecraft project to replace Progress-MS as the Russian logistic vehicle to the ISS. It was requested for development to take advantage of the increased lift capacity of the Soyuz-2.1b. The initial development contract was awarded to RSC Energia by Roscosmos on December 11, 2015. The spacecraft is not expected to fly before 2020.
Dragon, also known as Dragon 1 or Cargo Dragon, was a class of fourteen partially reusable cargo spacecraft developed by SpaceX, an American private space transportation company. The spacecraft flew 23 missions between 2010 and 2020. Dragon was launched into orbit by the company's Falcon 9 launch vehicle to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).
SpaceX CRS-26, also known as SpX-26, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on 26 November 2022. The mission was contracted by NASA and flown by SpaceX using a Cargo Dragon. This was the sixth flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2 contract awarded in January 2016.
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|---|---|---|
| In development | ||
| Retired | ||
| Proposed | ||
| Cancelled | ||