The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO),which was the precursor to the European Space Agency (ESA). It was developed with the aim to delivering space access technology,and more specifically to facilitate the deployment of European-wide telecommunication and meteorological satellites into orbit.
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM),it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead,in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test,Hardtack Teak.
Black Arrow,officially capitalised BLACK ARROW,was a British satellite expendable launch system.
The Jaguar was a three-stage British sounding rocket built in several versions.
Topaze is the designation of a French sounding rocket. The Topaze was developed by several French companies,notably Nord Aviation and Sud Aviation,and built by SEREB and was the first guidable French sounding rocket.
WRESAT,or Weapons Research Establishment Satellite,was Australia's first satellite. It was named after its designer,the Weapons Research Establishment. WRESAT was launched on 29 November 1967 using a modified American Redstone rocket with two upper stages,known as a Sparta,from the Woomera Test Range in South Australia. The Sparta was donated by the United States.
The year 1967 in spaceflight saw the most orbital launches of the 20th century and more than any other year until 2021,including that of the first Australian satellite,WRESAT,which was launched from the Woomera Test Range atop an American Sparta rocket. The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 172 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches which occurred in 1967.
The Delta G,or Thor-Delta G was an American expendable launch system used to launch two biological research satellites in 1966 and 1967. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
The Conestoga was a launch vehicle design funded by Space Services Inc. of America (SSIA) of Houston,Texas. Conestoga originally consisted of surplus LGM-30 Minuteman stages with additional strap-on boosters,as required for larger payloads. It was the world's first privately funded commercial rocket,but was launched only three times between 1981 and 1995,before the program was shut down.
The Zenit-2 is a Ukrainian,previously Soviet,expendable carrier rocket. First flown in 1985,it has been launched 37 times,with 6 failures. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets and was designed by the Yuzhmash.
This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or in development as of 2023;a second list includes all upcoming rockets and a third list includes all retired rockets For the simple list of all conventional launcher families,see:Comparison of orbital launchers families. For the list of predominantly solid-fueled orbital launch systems,see:Comparison of solid-fueled orbital launch systems.
Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) is a launch and landing site at Vandenberg Space Force Base,California,U.S. It has two pads,both of which are used by SpaceX for Falcon 9,one for launch operations,and other as Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) for SpaceX landings.
Orba,also known as X-2,was intended to be the first satellite launched by a British rocket. It was launched at 00:34 GMT on 2 September 1970,atop a Black Arrow rocket from Launch Area 5B at Woomera,but failed to reach orbit after the second stage of the carrier rocket shut down 13 seconds early. Orba was built from spare parts due to funding restrictions,and was to have been used to measure upper atmosphere density by monitoring the decay of its orbit.
The Redstone family of rockets consisted of a number of American ballistic missiles,sounding rockets and expendable launch vehicles operational during the 1950s and 1960s. The first member of the Redstone family was the PGM-11 Redstone missile,from which all subsequent variations of the Redstone were derived. The Juno 1 version of the Redstone launched Explorer 1,the first U.S. orbital satellite in 1958 and the Mercury-Redstone variation carried the first two U.S. astronauts into space in 1961. The rocket was named for the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville,Alabama where it was developed.
The Vostok-2,GRAU index 8A92 was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union between 1962 and 1967. Forty five were launched,of which five failed. It was derived from the earlier Vostok-K,with uprated engines. It was a member of the Vostok family of rockets.
The Soyuz-M,GRAU index 11A511M was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara,Russia. It was originally built to launch crewed Soyuz 7K-VI spacecraft for the Soviet armed forces. Following the cancellation of this programme,development of the rocket continued for the Soyuz 7K-S spacecraft. After this too was cancelled,Soyuz-M development was also abandoned,and the rockets that had been completed were used to launch reconnaissance satellites.
The Titan 23G,Titan II(23)G,Titan 2(23)G or Titan II SLV was an American expendable launch system derived from the LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile. Retired Titan II missiles were converted by Martin Marietta,into which the Glenn L. Martin Company,which built the original Titan II,had merged. It was used to carry payloads for the United States Air Force (USAF),NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Thirteen were launched from Space Launch Complex 4W (SLC-4W) at the Vandenberg Air Force Base between 1988 and 2003.
The NOTS-EV-2 Caleb,also known as NOTS-500,Hi-Hoe and SIP was an expendable launch system,which was later used as a sounding rocket and prototype anti-satellite weapon. It was developed by the United States Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) as a follow-up to the NOTS-EV-1 Pilot,which had been abandoned following ten launches officially classified as failed missions. Two were launched in July and October 1960,before the cancellation of the project. Following cancellation,two leftover Calebs were used in the Satellite Interceptor Program (SIP),while three more were used as sounding rockets,under the designation Hi-Hoe. These derivatives flew until July 1962,when the Hi-Hoe made its final flight.
The Athena I,known as the Lockheed Launch Vehicle (LLV) at the time of its first flight and Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle (LMLV) at the time of its second flight,was an American small expendable launch system which was used for four launches between 1995 and 2001. It is a member of the Athena family of rockets,along with the larger Athena II.
The Athena II is an American small expendable launch system which was used for three launches between 1998 and 1999,and which was scheduled to return to service in 2012 but has not been flown again as of October 2022. It is a member of the Athena family of rockets,along with the smaller Athena I.
