Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45,located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County,Florida.
A reusable launch vehicle has 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 launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage rocket,but the term is more general and also encompasses vehicles like the Space Shuttle. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad,supported by a launch control center and systems such as vehicle assembly and fueling. Launch vehicles are engineered with advanced aerodynamics and technologies,which contribute to high operating costs.
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit,designed,manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. It can also be used as an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle. The first Falcon 9 launch was on 4 June 2010. The first Falcon 9 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 and remains the only such vehicle. It is the only U.S. rocket certified for transporting humans to the ISS. In 2022,it became the U.S. rocket with the most launches in history and with the best safety record,having suffered just one flight failure.
This article lists all active and upcoming orbital launch systems. For retired launch vehicles,see Comparison of retired orbital launch systems.
Rocket Lab USA,Inc. is a publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider that operates and launches lightweight Electron orbital rockets used to provide dedicated launch services for small satellites as well as a suborbital variant of Electron called HASTE. The company plans to build a larger Neutron rocket as early as 2025. Electron rockets have launched to orbit 46 times from either Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand or at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island,Virginia,United States. Rocket Lab has launched one sub-orbital HASTE rocket to date from Wallops Island,Virginia. In addition to the Electron,Neutron,and HASTE launch vehicles,Rocket Lab manufactures and operates spacecraft and is a supplier of satellite components including star trackers,reaction wheels,solar cells and arrays,satellite radios,separation systems,as well as flight and ground software.
A heavy-lift launch vehicle is an orbital launch vehicle capable of generating a large amount of lift to reach its intended orbit. Heavy-lift launch vehicles generally are capable of lifting payloads between 20,000 to 50,000 kg or between 20,000 to 100,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit (LEO). As of 2024,operational heavy-lift launch vehicles include the Long March 5 and the Proton-M.
Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo into Earth orbit,and beyond. It is designed,manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX.
SpaceX has privately funded the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times,similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has developed technologies over the last decade to facilitate full and rapid reuse of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site within minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad,following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal would have been reusability of both stages of their orbital launch vehicle,and the first stage would be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return. Development of reusable second stages for Falcon 9 was later abandoned in favor of developing Starship,however,SpaceX developed reusable payload fairings for the Falcon 9.
3D printing began to be used in production versions of spaceflight hardware in early 2014,when SpaceX first flew a flight-critical propulsion system assembly on an operational Falcon 9 flight. A number of other 3D-printed spacecraft assemblies have been ground-tested,including high-temperature,high-pressure rocket engine combustion chambers and the entire mechanical spaceframe and integral propellant tanks for a small satellite.
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. As of May 2024,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.
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.
A small-lift launch vehicle is a rocket orbital launch vehicle that is capable of lifting 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) or less or under 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). The next larger category consists of medium-lift launch vehicles.
New Glenn is a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle developed by Blue Origin,named after NASA astronaut John Glenn,the first American astronaut to orbit Earth. New Glenn is a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 7 m (23 ft). Its first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines that are also designed and manufactured by Blue Origin. It is intended to launch from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36,with the first stage landing on a barge in Port Canaveral.The inaugural vehicle was unveiled on the launch pad in February 2024.
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.
LandSpace Technology Corporation is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Beijing. It was founded in 2015 by Zhang Changwu.
The year 2023 saw rapid growth and significant technical achievements in spaceflight. For the third year in a row,new world records were set for both orbital launch attempts (223) and successful orbital launches (211). The growth in orbital launch cadence can in large part be attributed to SpaceX,as they increased their number of launches from 61 in 2022 to 98 in 2023. The deployment of the Starlink satellite megaconstellation was a major contributing factor to this increase over previous years. This year also featured numerous maiden launches of new launch vehicles. In particular,SSLV,Qaem 100,Tianlong-2,Chollima-1,and Zhuque-2 performed their first successful orbital launch,while SpaceX's Starship –the world's largest rocket –launched two times during its development stage:IFT-1 and IFT-2.
Relativity Space Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturing company headquartered in Long Beach,California. Relativity Space is developing manufacturing technologies,launch vehicles,and rocket engines for commercial orbital launch services. The company is notable for manufacturing most of their Terran 1 and Terran R rocket parts using 3D printing. As of April 2024,Terran R is on track for initial launch in 2026.
i-Space —also known as Space Honor,Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd.,Interstellar Glory or StarCraft Glory—is a Chinese private space technology development and space launch company based in Beijing,founded in October 2016.
Terran R is a heavy-lift two-stage,partially reusable launch vehicle under development by Relativity Space. The vehicle is partially constructed with 3D printing technologies,like its predecessor,the small-lift Terran 1. The first flight is expected to be in 2026.
