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 a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development. The first (STS-1) of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981,leading to operational flights (STS-5) beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011,launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites,interplanetary probes,and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST),conducted science experiments in orbit,participated in the Shuttle-Mir program with Russia,and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1,323 days.
Human spaceflight programs have been conducted,started,or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century,human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments,through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004,a new category of human spaceflight programs –commercial human spaceflight –arrived. As of July 2021,three countries and one private company (SpaceX) have launched humans to Earth orbit,and two private companies have launched humans on a suborbital trajectory. The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States professional,military,and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometers (50 mi) are awarded the United States Astronaut Badge. This article follows the FAI definition of spaceflight.
A reusable launch vehicle have parts that can be recovered and reflown,while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space. Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as rocket engines and boosters can also be reused,though reusable spacecraft may be launched on top of an expendable launch vehicle. Reusable launch vehicles do not need to make these parts for each launch,therefore reducing its launch cost significantly. However,these benefits are diminished by the cost of recovery and refurbishment.
A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so,spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to conventional spacecraft,while sub-orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to fixed-wing aircraft. All spaceplanes to date have been rocket-powered but then landed as unpowered gliders.
Rocketplane Limited,Inc. was a spacecraft design and development company headquartered in De Pere,Wisconsin. After filing for bankruptcy,the company reincorporated as Rocketplane Global Inc.
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit,produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
The NK-33 and NK-43 are rocket engines designed and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. The NK designation is derived from the initials of chief designer Nikolay Kuznetsov. The NK-33 was among the most powerful LOX/RP-1 rocket engines when it was built,with a high specific impulse and low structural mass. They were intended for the ill-fated Soviet N1F moon rocket,which was an upgraded version of the N1. The NK-33A rocket engine is now used on the first stage of the Soyuz-2-1v launch vehicle. When the supply of the NK-33 engines are exhausted,Russia will supply the new RD-193 rocket engine. It used to be the first stage engines of the Antares 100 rocket series,although those engines are rebranded the AJ-26 and the newer Antares 200 and Antares 200+ rocket series uses the RD-181 for the first stage engines,which is a modified RD-191,but shares some properties like a single combustion chamber unlike the two combustion chambers used in the RD-180 of the Atlas V and the four combustion chambers used in the RD-170 of the Energia and Zenit rocket families,and the RD-107,RD-108,RD-117,and RD-118 rocket engines used on all of the variants of the Soyuz rocket.
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) was a NASA program to coordinate the development of vehicles for the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station by private companies. The program was announced on January 18,2006 and successfully flew all cargo demonstration flights by September 2013,when the program ended.
Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) was a reusable launch system firm originally based in Oklahoma. It was formed in 2006 after Rocketplane Limited,Inc. acquired Kistler Aerospace. NASA announced that Rocketplane Kistler had been chosen to develop crew and cargo launch services. However,having missed financial milestones NASA terminated funding for the project. It filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010.
Andrews Space was founded in 1999 by Jason Andrews and Marian Joh to be a catalyst in the commercialization,exploration and development of space. Originally named Andrews Space &Technology,the company shortened its name in 2003 to Andrews Space. Over its life the company developed many unique technologies and space transportation architectures for the US Government and commercial customers. The company is now Spaceflight Systems,a subsidiary of Spaceflight Industries,Inc.
Cargo spacecraft are robotic spacecraft that are designed to carry cargo,possibly to support space stations' operation by transporting food,propellant and other supplies. This is different from a space probe,whose missions are to conduct scientific investigations.
Cygnus is an expendable American cargo spacecraft developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and now manufactured and launched by Northrop Grumman Space Systems as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It is launched by Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket or ULA's Atlas V and is designed to transport 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.
The S-550 was a proposed crewed space capsule,designed in 2005-06 at Venturer Aerospace,in response to the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to provide commercial resupply and logistics support for the International Space Station after the retirement of the Space Shuttle.
The Boeing CST-100Starliner is a class of two partially reusable spacecraft designed to transport crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. It is manufactured by Boeing for its participation in NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). The spacecraft consists of a reusable crew capsule and an expendable service module.
t/Space was an American aerospace company which participated in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS),and later,Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) programs for delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station. The company was headquartered in Reston,Virginia.
The DARPA XS-1 was an experimental spaceplane/booster with the planned capability to deliver small satellites into orbit for the U.S. Military. It was reported to be designed to be reusable as frequently as once a day,with a stated goal of doing so for 10 days straight. The XS-1 was intended to directly replace the first stage of a multistage rocket by taking off vertically and flying to hypersonic speed and high suborbital altitude,enabling one or more expendable upper stages to separate and deploy a payload into low Earth orbit. The XS-1 would then return to Earth,where it could ostensibly be serviced fast enough to repeat the process at least once every 24 hours.
The Falcon 9 v1.0 was the first member of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle family,designed and manufactured by SpaceX in Hawthorne,California. Development of the medium-lift launcher began in 2005,and it first flew on June 4,2010. The Falcon 9 v1.0 then launched four Dragon cargo spacecraft:one on an orbital test flight,then one demonstration and two operational resupply missions to the International Space Station under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.
Firefly Aerospace is an American private aerospace firm based in Austin,Texas,that develops launch vehicles for commercial launches to orbit. The company completed its $75 million Series A investment round in May 2021,which was led by DADA Holdings. The current company was formed when the assets of the former company Firefly Space Systems were acquired by EOS Launcher in March 2017,which was then renamed Firefly Aerospace. Firefly's purported purpose is to increase access to space,similar to other NewSpace organizations.
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).
Rocketplane Global Inc. is a reusable rocketplane aerospace design and development company incorporated in Delaware.
