The aerospike engine is a type of rocket engine that maintains its aerodynamic efficiency across a wide range of altitudes. It belongs to the class of altitude compensating nozzle engines. Aerospike engines were proposed for many single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) designs. They were a contender for the Space Shuttle main engine. However, as of 2023 no such engine was in commercial production, although some large-scale aerospikes were in testing phases.
Esrange Space Center is a rocket range and research centre located about 40 kilometers east of the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific research with high-altitude balloons, investigation of the aurora borealis, sounding rocket launches, and satellite tracking, among other things. Located 200 km north of the Arctic Circle and surrounded by a vast wilderness, its geographic location is ideal for many of these purposes.
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company develops commercial spacecraft and provides suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two. Virgin Galactic's maiden spaceflight occurred in 2018 with its VSS Unity spaceship. Branson had originally hoped to see a maiden spaceflight by 2010, but the date was delayed, primarily due to the October 2014 crash of VSS Enterprise.
The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) was an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It was manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.
Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin 45 miles (72 km) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Truth or Consequences. With Virgin Galactic's launch of the VSS Unity, with three people aboard, on May 22, 2021, New Mexico became the third US state to launch humans into space after California and Florida.
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.
Copenhagen Suborbitals is a crowd-funded human space program. It has flown six home-built rockets and capsules since 2011. The organization successfully launched its Nexø II rocket in the summer of 2018. Its stated goal is to have one of its members reach space on a sub-orbital spaceflight. The organization was founded by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen.
Electron is a two-stage, partially reusable orbital launch vehicle developed by Rocket Lab, an American aerospace company with a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary. Electron services the commercial small satellite launch market. It's the third most launched small-lift launch vehicle in history. Its Rutherford engines are the first electric-pump-fed engine to power an orbital-class rocket. Electron is often flown with a kickstage or Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft. Although the rocket was designed to be expendable, Rocket Lab has recovered the first stage twice and is working towards the capability of reusing the booster. The Flight 26 (F26) booster has featured the first helicopter catch recovery attempt. Rocket Lab has, however, abandoned the idea of catching Electron.
Exos Aerospace Systems & Technologies is an aerospace manufacturer and developer of reusable launch systems intended to support uncrewed orbital spaceflight launches, and is based in Caddo Mills, Texas.
Gilmour Space Technologies is a venture-funded Australian aerospace company that is developing hybrid-propellant rocket engines and associated technologies to support the deployment of a low-cost launch vehicle.
Orbital Express Launch Ltd., or Orbex, is a United Kingdom-based aerospace company that is developing a small commercial orbital rocket called Prime. Orbex is headquartered in Forres, Moray, in Scotland and has subsidiaries in Denmark and Germany. Its future launch complex, Sutherland spaceport, is being built on the A' Mhòine peninsula in the county of Sutherland, northern Scotland.
Skyrora Ltd is a British private space company based in Glasgow, Scotland, since 2017.
Southern Launch is the trading name of SouthernLaunch.space Pty Ltd, an Australian aerospace company and launch service provider. As of 2023, they operated Australia's only rocket facilities approved by the Australian Space Agency for launches to space.
The Koonibba Test Range is a rocket test range site near the township of Koonibba in the far west of South Australia. Rockets are launched to the north over a clear area – the Yumbarra Conservation Park and Yellabinna Wilderness Protection Area – for 145 kilometres (90 mi).
BluShift Aerospace is an employee-owned American aerospace firm based in Brunswick, Maine. Targeting the growing smallsat and cubesat launch markets, bluShift is developing suborbital sounding rockets and small-lift orbital rockets which will be launched from a proposed new spaceport in Maine. The company has received primary funding from NASAs SBIR grant program, the National Science Foundations I-Corps grant program, the Maine Technology Institute, and the Maine Space Grant Consortium. The company has active operations at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station and Loring Air Force Base.
SaxaVord Spaceport, previously known as Shetland Space Centre, is a UK spaceport located on the Lamba Ness peninsula on Unst, the most northerly of the inhabited Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. The site is near the RAF Saxa Vord radar station and the settlement of Skaw, adjacent to the Saxa Vord distillery.
The Themis programme is an ongoing European Space Agency programme and carried by prime contractor, ArianeGroup, aiming to develop a prototype reusable rocket first stage and plans to conduct demonstration flights. The prototype rocket will also be called Themis.
Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) is a German NewSpace start-up located in Augsburg. It was founded in 2018 with the mission to build rockets just like cars. Its multistage rocket, RFA One, is currently under development. As of November 2023, it had been scheduled to launch during the summer of 2024; however, an anomaly during a first stage static fire test in August 2024 resulted in destruction of the stage, and the launch has been postponed.
RFA One is a small-lift multistage launch vehicle with an on-orbit transfer stage designed to transport small and micro-satellites of up to 1,300 kg into low-Earth polar and Sun-synchronous orbits. It has been in development by German private company Rocket Factory Augsburg since 2019.
HyPrSpace is a rocket startup, founded in 2019, from Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It develops orbital and suborbital launch vehicles and hybrid propulsion systems. In 2022 it has raised €1.1 million to develop its rocket. In 2024 as part of a consortium it has raises €35 million to develop their launcher Orbital Baguette One, 60 percent of the funding from the French government - as the winner of the France 2030 program supported by the State. Baguette One is 7 metres tall, single-stage, with a payload capacity of 300 kilograms. The first suborbital mission is planned for 2026. Orbital Baguette-1 (OB-1) - 16 metres tall - is a micro-launcher with a payload of 250 kg to 400 km LEO . The hybrid engine use solid fuels in combination with a liquid oxidizer and doesn't need a turbo pump. On 11 July 2024 it was completed with success the first hot fire test of its Terminator hybrid rocket motor.
