Comparison of orbital launch systems
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This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all current and future individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or have attempted an orbital flight attempt as of 2024; a second list includes all upcoming 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.
Spacecraft propulsion[note 1] is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. Orbital launch systems are rockets and other systems capable of placing payloads into or beyond Earth orbit. All launch vehicle propulsion systems employed to date have been chemical rockets falling into one of three main categories:
- Solid-propellant rockets or solid-fuel rockets have a motor that uses solid propellants, typically a mix of powdered fuel and oxidizer held together by a polymer binder and molded into the shape of a hollow cylinder. The cylinder is ignited from the inside and burns radially outward, with the resulting expanding gases and aerosols escaping out via the nozzle.[note 2]
- Liquid-propellant rockets have a motor that feeds liquid propellant(s) into a combustion chamber. Most liquid engines use a bipropellant, consisting of two liquid propellants (fuel and oxidizer) which are stored and handled separately before being mixed and burned inside the combustion chamber.
- Hybrid-propellant rockets use a combination of solid and liquid propellant, typically involving a liquid oxidizer being pumped through a hollow cylinder of solid fuel.
All current spacecraft use conventional chemical rockets (solid-fuel or liquid bipropellant) for launch, though some[note 3] have used air-breathing engines on their first stage.[note 4]
Current rockets
[edit]Orbits legend:
- LEO, low Earth orbit
- SSO or SSPO, near-polar Sun-synchronous orbit
- polar, polar orbit
- MEO, medium Earth orbit
- GTO, geostationary transfer orbit
- GEO, geostationary orbit (direct injection)
- HEO, high Earth orbit
- HCO, heliocentric orbit
- TLI, trans-lunar injection
- TMI, trans-Mars injection
- ^ Suborbital flight tests and on-pad explosions are excluded, but launches failing en route to orbit are included.
- ^ for Starliner[9]
- ^ Despite not being officially acknowledged by the manufacturer, significant changes between different iterations of the rocket lead to the identification of different variants.[12]
- ^ Sea-launched version of the third unofficial iteration of the Ceres-1 launch vehicle.
- ^ 5,100 kg to a 500-km Sun-synchronous orbit; 3,300 kg to 800 km[33]: 64–65
- ^ Despite not being officially acknowledged by the manufacturer, significant changes between different iterations of the rocket lead to the identification of different variants.[37]
- ^ A suborbital test flight was conducted in March 2012.[44]
- ^ A suborbital test flight was conducted in 2014 (designated LVM-3/CARE) without the cryogenic upper stage (CUS).[87]
- ^ A suborbital mission was conducted in 2024.
- ^ Additionally, two suborbital missions were conducted in 2010 and 2011.[92]
- ^ A suborbital test flight succeeded in 2022.
- ^ A suborbital test flight succeeded in 2016.[118]
- ^ Suborbital test flight in 2004, without Fregat upper stage.[120]
Rockets in flight testing
[edit]| Vehicle | Origin | Manufacturer | Height | Maximum payload mass (kg) | Reusable / Expendable | Orbital launches including failures[a] | Suborbital test flights | Launch site(s) | Dates of flight | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEO | GTO | Other | First | Latest | ||||||||
| Starship Block 1[137] |  United States | SpaceX | 121 m | 40,000–50,000[138] | N/A | N/A | Reusable | 0 | 5 |  Starbase | 2023 | 2024 |
| Angara A5 / Orion |  Russia | Khrunichev | 54.9 m | N/A | 6,500[1] | 3,700 to GEO[1] | Expendable | 1[1] | Plesetsk, Vostochny | 2024 | 2024 | |
| Angara A5 / Persei | Russia | Khrunichev | 54.9 m | N/A | 6,500[1] | 3,700 to GEO[1] | Expendable | 1[1] | Plesetsk, Vostochny | 2021 | 2021 | |
| GYUB TV2 |  South Korea | MND | 19.5 m | 100[139] | N/A | N/A | Expendable | 1[139] | Jeju sea launch platform | 2023 | 2023 | |
| KAIROS |  Japan | Space One | 18 m | 250[140] | N/A | 150 to SSO[140] | Expendable | 1[141] | Spaceport Kii | 2024 | 2024 | |
| New-type satellite carrier rocket[142] |  North Korea Russia | NADA | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Expendable | 1[143][142] | Sohae | 2024 | 2024 | |
| Vulcan Centaur VC2 | United States | ULA | 61.6 m | 19,000[144] | 8,400[144] | 15,200 to polar 3,900 to MEO 2,600 to GEO 6,300 to TLI[144] | Expendable | 2[145] | CCSFS | 2024 | 2024 | |
Upcoming rockets
[edit]Upcoming launch vehicles
- ^ Suborbital flight tests and on-pad explosions are excluded, but launches failing en route to orbit are included.
- ^ provides the first stage, including engines
- ^ Height for uncrewed version
- ^ Height for crewed version
- ^ When first stage returned to launch site
- ^ When first stage returned to launch site
- ^ Reference altitude 500 km
- ^ with EUS
- ^ with EUS and
advanced boosters
Retired rockets
[edit]Launch systems by country
[edit]The following chart shows the number of launch systems developed in each country, and broken down by operational status. Rocket variants are not distinguished; i.e., the Atlas V series is only counted once for all its configurations 401–431, 501–551, 552, and N22.
10
20
30
40
50
AUS
BRZ
CHN
EUR
ESP
FRA
IND
IRN
ISR
JPN
NKR
NZL
RUS
SKR
TWN
UKR
UK
USA
- Operational
- In development
- Retired
See also
[edit]- Comparison of orbital launchers families
- Comparison of orbital rocket engines
- Comparison of crewed space vehicles
- Comparison of retired orbital launch vehicles
- Comparison of space station cargo vehicles
- List of space launch system designs
- Reusable launch system
- List of orbital launch systems
- Lists of rockets
- List of sounding rockets
- List of upper stages
- Non-rocket spacelaunch
Notes
[edit]- ^ There are many different methods. Each mestylethod has drawbacks and advantages, and spacecraft propulsion is an active area of research. However, most spacecraft today are propelled by forcing a gas from the back/rear of the vehicle at very high speed through a supersonic de Laval nozzle. This sort of engine is called a rocket engine.
- ^ The first medieval rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used by the Chinese, Indians, Mongols and Arabs, in warfare as early as the 13th century.
- ^ Such as the Pegasus rocket and SpaceShipOne.
- ^ Most satellites have simple reliable chemical thrusters (often monopropellant rockets) or resistojet rockets for orbital station-keeping and some use momentum wheels for attitude control. Soviet bloc satellites have used electric propulsion for decades, and newer Western geo-orbiting spacecraft are starting to use them for north–south stationkeeping and orbit raising. Interplanetary vehicles mostly use chemical rockets as well, although a few have used ion thrusters and Hall effect thrusters (two different types of electric propulsion) to great success.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Krebs, Gunter. "Angara (cluster)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter. "Angara-1.2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "Angara-1 to inaugurate new rocket family". russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ a b c d Lagier, Roland (March 2018). "Ariane 6 User's Manual Issue 1 Revision 0" (PDF). Arianespace. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ a b Lagier, Roland (March 2018). "Ariane 6 User's Manual Issue 2 Revision 0" (PDF). Arianespace. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Ariane-6". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Atlas V". ULA. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ a b "Atlas-5(551) (Atlas-V(551))". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ Egan, Barbara [@barbegan13] (15 October 2016). "@torybruno @ulalaunch @baserunner0723 We are calling the config N22. No payload fairing with the Starliner on board" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Percival, Claire (2022-05-29). "OFT-2 CST-100 Starliner (Uncrewed) | Atlas V N22". Everyday Astronaut. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ Roulette, Joey (22 December 2019). "'Bull's-eye' landing in New Mexico for Boeing's Starliner astronaut capsule". Reuters. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter. "Ceres-1 (Gushenxing-1, GX-1)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Ceres-1". galactic-energy.cn. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ^ Kim, Jeongmin (1 June 2023). "North Korea rushed satellite launch after seeing ROK rocket success, Seoul says". NK News. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ "Chollima-1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ^ "Electron". Rocket Lab. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
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- ^ a b "Projects&Products". IHI Aerospace. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
- ^ a b c d Krebs, Gunter. "Epsilon". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "SpaceX - Falcon 9". SpaceX. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ Elon Musk (26 February 2024). "Due to continued design improvements, this Falcon 9 carried its highest ever payload of 17.5 tons of useful load to a useful orbit".
- ^ Either 2 or 3 boosters recoverable.
- ^ Musk, Elon. Making Life Multiplanetary. SpaceX. Event occurs at 15:35. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 22 March 2018 – via YouTube.
BFR in fully reusable configuration, without any orbital refueling, we expect to have a payload capability of 150 tonnes to low Earth orbit and that compares to about 30 for Falcon Heavy
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Falcon-Heavy (Block 5)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d "SpaceX - Falcon Heavy". SpaceX. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Alpha Launch Vehicle". Firefly Aerospace. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ "Missions Archive". Firefly Aerospace. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter. "Yinli-1 (Gravity-1, YL-1)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Indian Space Research Organisation - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II". isro.gov.in. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "GSLV". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- ^ a b "H-IIA Launch Vehicle" (PDF). JAXA. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "H-IIA – User's Manual" (PDF). 4.0. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, MHI Launch Services. February 2015. YET04001. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "H-2A-202". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Only the X00 version of the H3 is intended for LEO launches.[failed verification] The higher capability X02 and X03 variants could presumably launch significantly more payload to LEO, but are not specified for this mission. Space Launch Report: H3 Data Sheet[usurped],[dead link] retrieved 20 Feb. 2019/
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "H-3-22". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Shuang Quxian-1 (SQX-1, Hyperbola-1)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
- ^ "Hyperbola-1 User Manual" (PDF). i-space. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Shuang Quxian-1 (SQX-1, Hyperbola-1)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ "China's Jielong 1 smallsat launcher successful on first flight – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Jielong-1 (Smart Dragon-1, SD 1)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ a b Krebs, Gunter. "Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3, SD 3)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter. "Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1, Zhongke-1, ZK-1)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter. "Kuaizhou-1 (KZ-1) / Fei Tian 1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ a b Andrew Jones (2022-12-07). "Private Chinese rocket reaches orbit 2 years after test-flight failure (video)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Kuaizhou-11 (KZ-11)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "LM-2C – Launch Vehicle – CGWIC". cgwic.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-13. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ a b Krebs, Gunter. "CZ-2C (3) YZ-1S (Chang Zheng-2C (3) YZ-1S)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "长征二号丁 _中国航天科技集团". spacechina.com. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
- ^ "LM-2D – Launch Vehicle – CGWIC". cgwic.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "CZ-2D (Chang Zheng-2D)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "CZ-2D (2) (Chang Zheng-2D (2))". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "CZ-2D (2) YZ-3 (Chang Zheng-2D (2) YZ-3)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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