Comparison of manned space vehicles

A number of different spacecraft have been used to carry people to and from space.

Orbital space vehicles

Legend for below table:   [under development] — [retired,canceled] — [operational,inactive]

Spacecraft Origin Manufacturer Range Launch
system
Crew
size
Length (m) Diameter (m) Launch mass (kg) Power
system
Generated
power (W)
First
flight*
Last
flight
Flights*
Apollo  USA North American Aviation
Grumman and Douglas
Lunar Saturn IB
Saturn V
3 3.91 5,500 CM + 14,700 LM
24,500 Service Module
Fuel cells 1967 (1966) 1975 15 (4)[note 1]
Gemini  USA McDonnell Aircraft
Martin
LEO Titan II GLV
Titan IIIC[note 2]
2 5.56 3.05 Fuel cells 1965 (1964) 1966 10 (2)[note 1]
Mercury  USA McDonnell Aircraft
North American Aviation
LEO
attained
Redstone MRLV
Atlas LV-3B
1 3.34 1.89 Batteries 1961 (1960) 1963 6 (12)[note 3]
Shenzhou  China LEO Chang Zheng 2F 3 9.25 2.80 7,840 Solar panels 1,450 2003 (1999) Active 5 (5)
Voskhod  USSR OKB-1 LEO Voskhod 3[note 4] 5 2.4 Batteries n/a 1964 (1964) 1965 2 (3)
Vostok  USSR OKB-1 LEO
first
Vostok-K 1 4.4 2.43 4,725 Batteries n/a 1961 (1960) 1963 6 (7)[note 5]
Soyuz 7K-OK  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz 3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1967 (1966) 1970 8 (8)[note 6]
Soyuz 7KT-OK  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz 3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1971 1971 2[note 7]
Soyuz 7K-T  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz
Soyuz-U
2 7.48 2.72 Batteries 1973 1981 26 (4)[note 8]
Soyuz 7K-T-AF  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz 2 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1973 1973 1
Soyuz 7K-TM  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz-U 2 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1974 1975 2 (2)
Soyuz 7K-MF6  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz-U 2 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1976 1976 1
Soyuz-T  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz-U
Soyuz-U2
3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1978 1986 15 (6)[note 9]
Soyuz-TM  USSR
 Russia
RKK Energia LEO Soyuz-U2
Soyuz-U
3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1986 2002 33 (1)
Buran  USSR RKK Energia LEO Energia 10 36.37 Fuel cells 1988 1988 1
Soyuz-TMA
11F732
 Russia RKK Energia LEO Soyuz-FG 3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 2002 2012 22
Soyuz TMA-M
11F747
 Russia RKK Energia LEO Soyuz-FG 3 7.48 2.72 7,150 Solar panels 1,000 2010 2016 19
Soyuz MS
?
 Russia RKK Energia LEO Soyuz-FG 3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 2016 Active 1
Biconic Space Vehicle  USA Blue Origin LEO New Glenn
CST-100  USA Boeing LEO multiple, initially Atlas V 7 [1] 5.03 [2] 4.56 [2] Planned: 2018 (2017)
Dream Chaser Space System  USA Sierra Nevada Corporation LEO multiple, initially Atlas V 7 [3][4] 9 [5] 11,300 [6]
Federatsiya
?
 Russia RKK Energia Moon Solar panels 2021 or later
Space Shuttle orbiter  USA United Space Alliance LEO Space Shuttle 8[note 10] 37.24 4.8[note 11] 109,000 Fuel cells 1981 2011 135[note 12]
Orion  USA Lockheed Martin
Astrium
Mars Delta IV Heavy
Space Launch System
4 5 8,900 Capsule
12,300 Service Module
Solar Panels Planned: 2021 (2014) 0 (1)[note 13]
Dragon V2  USA SpaceX Mars Falcon 9 full thrust
Falcon Heavy
7[note 14] 3.7 Solar Panels Planned: 2017 0
Interplanetary Spaceship  USA SpaceX Solar System[7][note 15] ITS Launch vehicle[7] 100[note 16] 49.5[7] 12[7][note 17] 2,400,000[7] Solar Panels 200,000 Planned: (2022) [7] 0
* - Format: Manned (Unmanned), includes failures

Suborbital space vehicles

Legend for below table:   [under development] — [retired,canceled] — [operational,inactive]

Spacecraft Origin Manufacturer Range Launch
system
Crew
size
Length (m) Diameter (m) Launch mass (kg) Power
system
Generated
power (W)
First
flight*
Last
flight
Flights*
SpaceShipOne  USA Scaled Composites 112 km
X Prize
White Knight
Hybrid Motor
3 3,600 2004 2004 3[note 18]
X-15  USA North American Aviation 108 km
altitude
B-52
Ammonia-LOX
1 15,420 1963 1963 2[note 19]
New Shepard  USA Blue Origin N/A (2015) 0 (2)[note 19]
SpaceShipTwo  USA The Spaceship Company 110 km
Kármán line+10
White Knight Two
RocketMotorTwo
8[note 20] 9,740 2016 ? 0[note 21]
* - Format: Manned (Unmanned), includes failures

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Not including Boilerplate tests
  2. One unmanned launch on Titan IIIC ahead of proposed use in MOL programme
  3. Including 2 suborbital flights, not including Boilerplate tests
  4. Able to carry three cosmonauts without spacesuits, or two with spacesuits; both combinations flown
  5. Unmanned flight count includes two launch failures
  6. Manned flights include one fatal in-flight failure; Soyuz 1 lost due to parachute failure upon landing.
  7. Manned flights include one fatal in-flight failure; Soyuz 11 depressurised during reentry.
  8. Manned flights include one launch failure - abort during third stage flight, recovered after suborbital flight
  9. Manned flights include one launch failure (SAS (launch escape system) used ~70 seconds before planned liftoff due to fire on launch pad - crew survived)
  10. No missions carried more than eight astronauts, although higher crew sizes were theoretically possible, for example recovering the crew of a stranded orbiter.
  11. Wingspan 23.79m
  12. Includes two fatal accidents; STS-51-L disintegrated during ascent, STS-107 damaged during ascent, disintegrated during reentry.
  13. Including unmanned test around 2014
  14. Number of seats will probably be a multiple of the 3 crew member rotations for the ISS
  15. Designed to land almost everywhere in the solar system
  16. Number of seats will be lower on early missions
  17. Max diameter 17m
  18. Does not include manned atmospheric flights
  19. 1 2 Does not include atmospheric flights, or missions considered spaceflights by the US definition but not the internationally-accepted definition
  20. 2 crew + 6 passengers
  21. Does not include manned atmospheric flights

See also

References

  1. "Commercial Human Spaceflight Plan Unveiled". Aviation Week. July 20, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Burghardt, Mike (August 2011). "Boeing CST-100: Commercial Crew Transportation System" (PDF). Boeing. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  3. "Dream Chaser Model Drops in at NASA Dryden" (Press release). Dryden Flight Research Center: NASA. 2010-12-17. Archived from the original on 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  4. Chang, Kenneth (2011-02-01). "Businesses Take Flight, With Help From NASA". New York Times. p. D1. Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  5. Wade, Mark (2014). "Dream Chaser". Encyclopedia Astronautix. Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  6. Sirangelo, Mark (August 2011). "NewSpace 2011: Sierra Nevada Corporation". Spacevidcast. Retrieved 2011-08-16. Sirangelo, Mark (24 August 2014). "Flight Plans and Crews for Commercial Dream Chaser's First Flights: One-on-One Interview With SNC VP Mark Sirangelo (Part 3)". AmericaSpace.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species" (PDF). SpaceX. 2016-09-28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
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