The Scout family of rockets were American launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages. It was also the only vehicle of that type until the successful launch of the Japanese Lambda 4S in 1970.
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable, human-rated, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on 4 June 2010, and the first commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on 8 October 2012. In 2020, it became the first commercial rocket to launch humans to orbit. The Falcon 9 has an exceptional safety record, with 394 successful launches, two in-flight failures, one partial failure and one pre-flight destruction. It is the most-launched American orbital rocket in history.
UP Aerospace, Inc. is a private spaceflight corporation headquartered in Denver, Colorado. UP Aerospace provides sub-orbital transportation for corporate, military and educational payloads, via their SpaceLoft XL sounding rocket launch vehicles.
The SpaceLoft XL is a sounding rocket developed by private spaceflight company UP Aerospace. The rocket is capable of lofting a 79 lb (36 kg) payload to a sub-orbital trajectory with an apogee of about 71.5 miles (115 km). It travels for approximately 60 seconds to cross the Kármán line. All launches are sub-orbital and do not complete one orbital revolution. Launches are conducted from the company launch facility at Spaceport America in Upham, New Mexico.
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.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. is a publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider. Its Electron orbital rockets launches small satellites, and has launched 53 times as of 2024. A sub-orbital Electron variant called HASTE serves other needs. The company also supplies satellite components including star trackers, reaction wheels, solar cells and arrays, satellite radios, separation systems, as well as flight and ground software.
Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit, and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX.
A space tug is a type of spacecraft used to transfer spaceborne cargo from one orbit to another orbit with different energy characteristics. The term can include expendable upper stages or spacecraft that are not necessarily a part of their launch vehicle. However, it can also refer to a spacecraft that transports payload already in space to another location in outer space, such as in the Space Transportation System concept. An example would be moving a spacecraft from a low Earth orbit (LEO) to a higher-energy orbit like a geostationary transfer orbit, a lunar transfer, or an escape trajectory.
LauncherOne was a two-stage orbital launch vehicle developed and flown by Virgin Orbit that had operational flights from 2021 to 2023, after being in development from 2007 to 2020. It was an air-launched rocket, designed to carry smallsat payloads of up to 300 kg (660 lb) into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), following air launch from a carrier aircraft at high altitude. The rocket was carried to the upper atmosphere on a modified Boeing 747-400, named Cosmic Girl, and released over ocean. Initial work on the program was done by Virgin Galactic, another Virgin Group subsidiary, before a separate entity — Virgin Orbit — was formed in 2017 to complete development and operate the launch service provider business separately from the passenger-carrying Virgin Galactic business.
Astra Space, Inc., formerly known as Ventions, LLC from 2005 - 2016, is an American space company based in Alameda, California, with facilities in Sunnyvale, California and Atwater, California. The company was initially an aerospace technology research firm that focused on SBIR contracts, developing small rocket engines for use on launch vehicles and satellite propulsion. In 2012, the company shifted to developing launch vehicles and was selected for the DARPA ALASA program, eventually leading to the development and launch of the Astra Rocket series of launch vehicle utilizing both government and private funding after reincorporating itself to Astra Space, Inc. in 2016. The company would have their first successful launch in 2021, nine years after the start of development, after 6 previous failed attempts.
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.
A super heavy-lift launch vehicle is a rocket that can lift to low Earth orbit a "super heavy payload", which is defined as more than 50 metric tons (110,000 lb) by the United States and as more than 100 metric tons (220,000 lb) by Russia. It is the most capable launch vehicle classification by mass to orbit, exceeding that of the heavy-lift launch vehicle classification.
Firefly Alpha is a two-stage orbital expendable small lift launch vehicle developed by the American company Firefly Aerospace to compete in the commercial small satellite launch market. Alpha is intended to provide launch options for both full vehicle and rideshare customers.
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.
Vector-R is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle under development by the American aerospace company Vector Launch to cover the commercial small satellite launch segment (CubeSats). Vector Launch went bankrupt in December 2019 and re-emerged in October 2020. Two prototypes were launched in 2017.
The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is a small-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO to deliver 500 kg (1,100 lb) payload to low Earth orbit or 300 kg (660 lb) payload to Sun-synchronous orbit. The rocket supports multi-orbital drop-offs capability for small satellites.
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.
Equatorial Space Systems PTE LTD. also known as Equatorial Space, is a Singapore-based company that develops hybrid-engine rockets and space launch services. The company was founded by Simon Gwozdz and Praveen Ganapathi Perumal in 2017 in Singapore, with the goal to develop low-cost, safe and eco-friendly space launch vehicles.
ABL Space Systems is an American aerospace and launch service provider, based in El Segundo, California, that manufactures deployable launch vehicles and infrastructure for missile defense, formerly for sending commercial small satellites into orbit. The company manufactures its components in the United States.
The Astra Rocket was a small-lift space launch vehicle series designed, manufactured, and operated by American company Astra. The rockets were designed to be manufactured at minimal cost, employing very simple materials and techniques. They were also designed to be launched by a very small team, and be transported from the factory to the launch pad in standard shipping containers.
