More than 100 Soviet and Russian crewed

Soyuz spacecraft (TMA version shown) have

flown since 1967 and now support the
International Space Station.

The US Space Shuttle flew 135 times from 1981

to 2011, supporting Spacelab, Mir, the Hubble
Space Telescope, and the ISS. (Columbia's first
launch, which had a white external tank, shown)

A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite,

spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation,
meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans
and cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own,
and require a launch vehicle (carrier rocket).

On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters space and then returns to the surface, without
having gained sufficient energy or velocity to make a full orbit of the Earth. For orbital spaceflights,
spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or around other celestial bodies. Spacecraft used
for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers from start or on orbit (space
stations) only, whereas those used for robotic space missions operate either autonomously or
telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft used to support scientific research are space probes. Robotic
spacecraft that remain in orbit around a planetary body are artificial satellites. To date, only a
handful of interstellar probes, such as Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and New Horizons, are
on trajectories that leave the Solar System.
Orbital spacecraft may be recoverable or not. Most are not. Recoverable spacecraft may be
subdivided by method of reentry to Earth into non-winged space capsules and winged
spaceplanes.

Humanity has achieved space flight but only a few nations have the technology for orbital
launches: Russia (RSA or "Roscosmos"), the United States (NASA), the member states of the
European Space Agency (ESA), Japan (JAXA), China (CNSA), India (ISRO), Taiwan[1][2][3][4][5][6]
(National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Taiwan National Space Organization
(NSPO),[7][8][9] Israel (ISA), Iran (ISA), and North Korea (NADA).

History

The first artificial satellite,

Sputnik 1. It was launched by
the Soviet Union

A German V-2 became the first spacecraft when it reached an altitude of 189 km in June 1944 in
Peenemünde, Germany.[10] Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite. It was launched into an
elliptical low Earth orbit (LEO) by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The launch ushered in new
political, military, technological, and scientific developments; while the Sputnik launch was a single
event, it marked the start of the Space Age.[11][12] Apart from its value as a technological first,
Sputnik 1 also helped to identify the upper atmospheric layer's density, through measuring the
satellite's orbital changes. It also provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere.
Pressurized nitrogen in the satellite's false body provided the first opportunity for meteoroid
detection. Sputnik 1 was launched during the International Geophysical Year from Site No.1/5, at
the 5th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR (now at the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The satellite travelled
at 29,000 kilometers (18,000 mi) per hour, taking 96.2 minutes to complete an orbit, and emitted
radio signals at 20.005 and 40.002 MHz

While Sputnik 1 was the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth, other man-made objects had previously
reached an altitude of 100 km, which is the height required by the international organization
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale to count as a spaceflight. This altitude is called the
Kármán line. In particular, in the 1940s there were several test launches of the V-2 rocket, some of
which reached altitudes well over 100 km.

Spacecraft types

Crewed spacecraft

Apollo 17 Command Module in Lunar

orbit

As of 2016, only three nations have flown crewed spacecraft: USSR/Russia, USA, and China. The
first crewed spacecraft was Vostok 1, which carried Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space in
1961, and completed a full Earth orbit. There were five other crewed missions which used a
Vostok spacecraft.[13] The second crewed spacecraft was named Freedom 7, and it performed a
sub-orbital spaceflight in 1961 carrying American astronaut Alan Shepard to an altitude of just
over 187 kilometers (116 mi). There were five other crewed missions using Mercury spacecraft.

Other Soviet crewed spacecraft include the Voskhod, Soyuz, flown uncrewed as Zond/L1, L3, TKS,
and the Salyut and Mir crewed space stations. Other American crewed spacecraft include the
Gemini spacecraft, Apollo spacecraft including the Apollo Lunar Module, the Skylab space station,
and the Space Shuttle with undetached European Spacelab and private US Spacehab space
stations-modules. China developed, but did not fly Shuguang, and is currently using Shenzhou (its
first crewed mission was in 2003).

Except for the Space Shuttle, all of the recoverable crewed orbital spacecraft were space
capsules.

Crewed space capsules

American Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft

Soviet Voskhod (variant of Vostok)

1967 Soviet/Russian Soyuz spacecraft

 Chinese Shenzhou

Line drawing of Vostok capsule

The International Space Station, crewed since November 2000, is a joint venture between Russia,
the United States, Canada and several other countries.

Spaceplanes

Columbia orbiter landing

Some reusable vehicles have been designed only for crewed spaceflight, and these are often
called spaceplanes. The first example of such was the North American X-15 spaceplane, which
conducted two crewed flights which reached an altitude of over 100 km in the 1960s. The first
reusable spacecraft, the X-15, was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on July 19, 1963.

The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, a winged non-capsule, the Space Shuttle, was
launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, on April 12, 1981. During the
Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which have flown in the atmosphere and five of which
have flown in space. Enterprise was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the
back of a Boeing 747 SCA and gliding to deadstick landings at Edwards AFB, California. The first
Space Shuttle to fly into space was Columbia, followed by Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and
Endeavour. Endeavour was built to replace Challenger when it was lost in January 1986. Columbia
broke up during reentry in February 2003.

The first automatic partially reusable spacecraft was the Buran-class shuttle, launched by the
USSR on November 15, 1988, although it made only one flight and this was uncrewed. This
spaceplane was designed for a crew and strongly resembled the U.S. Space Shuttle, although its
drop-off boosters used liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what
would be the external tank in the American Shuttle. Lack of funding, complicated by the
dissolution of the USSR, prevented any further flights of Buran. The Space Shuttle was
subsequently modified to allow for autonomous re-entry in case of necessity.

Per the Vision for Space Exploration, the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 due mainly to its old
age and high cost of program reaching over a billion dollars per flight. The Shuttle's human
transport role is to be replaced by SpaceX's Dragon V2 and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner no later
than 2017. The Shuttle's heavy cargo transport role is to be replaced by expendable rockets such
as the Space Launch System and SpaceX's Falcon Heavy.

Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne was a reusable suborbital spaceplane that carried pilots Mike
Melvill and Brian Binnie on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the Ansari X Prize. The Spaceship
Company will build its successor SpaceShipTwo. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by Virgin
Galactic was planned to begin reusable private spaceflight carrying paying passengers in 2014,
but was delayed after the crash of VSS Enterprise.

Noncrewed spacecraft

Hubble Space Telescope

Jules Verne Automated

Transfer Vehicle (ATV)
approaches the International
 Space Station on Monday,
March 31, 2008

Mariner 10 diagram of trajectory past

planet Venus

This section needs expansion.

Learn more

Designed as crewed but flown as non-crewed only spacecraft

Zond/L1 – lunar flyby capsule

L3 – capsule and lunar lander

TKS – capsule

Buran-class shuttle – Soviet shuttle

Semi-crewed – crewed as space stations or part of space stations

Progress – unmanned USSR/Russia cargo spacecraft

TKS – unmanned USSR/Russia cargo spacecraft and space station module

Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) – unmanned European cargo spacecraft

H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) – unmanned Japanese cargo spacecraft

SpaceX Dragon – unmanned private spacecraft

Tianzhou 1 – China's unmanned spacecraft

Earth-orbit satellites

Explorer 1 – first US satellite

Project SCORE – first communications satellite

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) - orbits the Sun near L1

Sputnik 1 – world's first artificial satellite

Sputnik 2 – first animal in orbit (Laika)

 Korabl-Sputnik 2 – first capsule recovered from orbit (Vostok precursor) – animals survived

Syncom – first geosynchronous communications satellite

Hubble Space Telescope – largest orbital observatory

X-37 – spaceplane

Lunar probes

Clementine – US Navy mission, orbited Moon, detected hydrogen at the poles

Kaguya JPN – lunar orbiter

Luna 1 – first lunar flyby

Luna 2 – first lunar impact

Luna 3 – first images of lunar far side

Luna 9 – first soft landing on the Moon

Luna 10 – first lunar orbiter

Luna 16 – first unmanned lunar sample retrieval

Lunar Orbiter – very successful series of lunar mapping spacecraft

Lunar Prospector – confirmed detection of hydrogen at the lunar poles

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – Identifies safe landing sites and locates Moon resources

Lunokhod - Soviet lunar rovers

SMART-1 ESA – Lunar Impact

Surveyor – USA's first soft lander

Chang'e 1 – China's Chang'e lunar mission

Chang'e 2 – China's Chang'e lunar mission

Chang'e 3 – China's Chang'e lunar mission

Chandrayaan 1 – first Indian Lunar mission

Chandrayaan 2 – second Indian Lunar mission

Artist's conception of Cassini–

 Huygens as it enters Saturn's orbit

Artist's conception of the Phoenix

spacecraft as it lands on Mars

Planetary probes

Akatsuki JPN – a Venus orbiter

Cassini–Huygens – first Saturn orbiter and Titan lander

Curiosity – Rover sent to Mars by NASA in 2012

Galileo – first Jupiter orbiter and descent probe

IKAROS JPN – first solar-sail spacecraft

Mariner 4 – first Mars flyby, first close and high resolution images of Mars

Mariner 9 – first Mars orbiter

Mariner 10 – first Mercury flyby, first close up images

Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity)– Mars rovers

Mars Express – Mars orbiter

Mars Global Surveyor – Mars orbiter

Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) - India's first Interplanetary probe

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – an advanced climate, imaging, sub-surface radar, and

telecommunications Mars orbiter

MESSENGER – first Mercury orbiter (arrival 2011)

Mars Pathfinder – Mars lander, carrying the Sojourner rover

New Horizons – first Pluto flyby (arrival 2015)

Pioneer 10 – first Jupiter flyby, first close up images

Pioneer 11 – second Jupiter flyby and first Saturn flyby (first close up images of Saturn)

Pioneer Venus – first Venus orbiter and landers

 Vega 1 – Balloon release into Venus atmosphere and lander (joint mission with Vega 2),
mothership continued on to fly by Halley's Comet

Venera 4 – first soft landing on another planet (Venus)

Viking 1 – first soft landing on Mars

Voyager 1 - flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn's moon Titan

Voyager 2 – Jupiter flyby, Saturn flyby, and first flybys/images of Neptune and Uranus

Other – deep space

Cluster

Deep Space 1

Deep Impact

Genesis

Hayabusa

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous

Stardust

STEREO – Heliospheric and solar sensing; first images of the entire Sun

WMAP

Fastest spacecraft

Parker Solar Probe (estimated 343,000 km/h or 213,000 mph at first sun close pass, will reach
700,000 km/h or 430,000 mph at final perihelion)[14]
Helios I and II Solar Probes (252,792 km/h or 157,078 mph)

Furthest spacecraft from the Sun

Voyager 1 at 144.20 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 3.58 AU/year[15]

Pioneer 10 at 122.48 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 2.52 AU/year[15]
Voyager 2 at 119.34 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 3.24 AU/year[15]

Pioneer 11 at 101.17 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 2.37 AU/year[15]

Unfunded and canceled programs

 The first test flight of the
Delta Clipper-Experimental

Advanced (DC-XA), a
prototype launch system

Crewed spacecraft

Chinese Shuguang capsule

Soviet Soyuz Kontakt capsule

Soviet Almaz space station

US Manned Orbiting Laboratory space station

US Altair lunar lander

Multi-stage spaceplanes

US X-20 spaceplane

Soviet Spiral shuttle

Soviet/Russian Buran-class shuttle

ESA Hermes shuttle

Kliper Russian semi-shuttle/semi-capsule

Japanese HOPE-X shuttle

Chinese Shuguang Project 921-3 shuttle

SSTO spacecraft

RR/British Aerospace HOTOL

ESA Hopper Orbiter

US DC-X (Delta Clipper)

US Roton Rotored-Hybrid
 US VentureStar

Spacecraft under development

The Orion spacecraft

Crewed

(US-NASA) Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle – capsule

(US-SpaceX) Dragon V2 – capsule

(US-Boeing) CST-100 – capsule

(US-Sierra Nevada Corporation) Dream Chaser – orbital spaceplane

(US-The SpaceShip company) SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane

(US-Blue Origin) New Shepard – VTVL capsule

(US-XCOR) Lynx rocketplane – suborbital spaceplane

China Shenzhou spacecraft

(India-DRDO) Avatar RLV -Under development, First demonstration flight planned in 2015.[16]

(India-ISRO) Gaganyaan – capsule

(India-ISRO) RLV Technology Demonstration Programme - Spacecraft

SpaceX Starship

(Russia-RKA) Orel – capsule

(Europe-ESA) Advanced Crew Transportation System – capsule

(Iranian Space Agency) Orbital Vehicle – capsule

Uncrewed
 ESA and JAXA BepiColombo - Planetary Probe to Mercury

China Shenzhou (spacecraft) Cargo

CNES Mars Netlander

Orbital Sciences Cygnus – cargo delivery to the ISS

Darwin14 ESA probe

James Webb Space Telescope (delayed)

Mars 2020 rover

Reaction Engines Limited

Skylon

SpaceX Dragon – cargo delivery to the ISS

StarChip and Sprites - miniaturized interstellar spacecraft

System F6—a DARPA Fractionated Spacecraft demonstrator

Terrestrial Planet Finder cancelled probe

Subsystems

A spacecraft system comprises various subsystems, depending on the mission profile. Spacecraft
subsystems comprise the spacecraft's "bus" and may include attitude determination and control
(variously called ADAC, ADC, or ACS), guidance, navigation and control (GNC or GN&C),
communications (comms), command and data handling (CDH or C&DH), power (EPS), thermal
control (TCS), propulsion, and structures. Attached to the bus are typically payloads.

Life support
Spacecraft intended for human spaceflight must also include a life support system for the crew.
 Reaction control system thrusters on
the front of the U.S. Space Shuttle

Attitude control
A Spacecraft needs an attitude control subsystem to be correctly oriented in space and respond
to external torques and forces properly. The attitude control subsystem consists of sensors and
actuators, together with controlling algorithms. The attitude-control subsystem permits proper
pointing for the science objective, sun pointing for power to the solar arrays and earth pointing
for communications.
GNC
Guidance refers to the calculation of the commands (usually done by the CDH subsystem)
needed to steer the spacecraft where it is desired to be. Navigation means determining a
spacecraft's orbital elements or position. Control means adjusting the path of the spacecraft to
meet mission requirements.
Command and data handling
The CDH subsystem receives commands from the communications subsystem, performs
validation and decoding of the commands, and distributes the commands to the appropriate
spacecraft subsystems and components. The CDH also receives housekeeping data and
science data from the other spacecraft subsystems and components, and packages the data
for storage on a data recorder or transmission to the ground via the communications
subsystem. Other functions of the CDH include maintaining the spacecraft clock and state-of-
health monitoring.
Communications
Spacecraft, both robotic and crewed, utilize various communications systems for
communication with terrestrial stations as well as for communication between spacecraft in
space. Technologies utilized include RF and optical communication. In addition, some
spacecraft payloads are explicitly for the purpose of ground–ground communication using
receiver/retransmitter electronic technologies.
Power
Spacecraft need an electrical power generation and distribution subsystem for powering the
various spacecraft subsystems. For spacecraft near the Sun, solar panels are frequently used to
generate electrical power. Spacecraft designed to operate in more distant locations, for
example Jupiter, might employ a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to generate
electrical power. Electrical power is sent through power conditioning equipment before it
passes through a power distribution unit over an electrical bus to other spacecraft components.
Batteries are typically connected to the bus via a battery charge regulator, and the batteries are
used to provide electrical power during periods when primary power is not available, for
example when a low Earth orbit spacecraft is eclipsed by Earth.
Thermal control
Spacecraft must be engineered to withstand transit through Earth's atmosphere and the space
environment. They must operate in a vacuum with temperatures potentially ranging across
hundreds of degrees Celsius as well as (if subject to reentry) in the presence of plasmas.
Material requirements are such that either high melting temperature, low density materials such
as beryllium and reinforced carbon–carbon or (possibly due to the lower thickness
requirements despite its high density) tungsten or ablative carbon–carbon composites are
used. Depending on mission profile, spacecraft may also need to operate on the surface of
another planetary body. The thermal control subsystem can be passive, dependent on the
selection of materials with specific radiative properties. Active thermal control makes use of
electrical heaters and certain actuators such as louvers to control temperature ranges of
equipments within specific ranges.
Spacecraft propulsion
Spacecraft may or may not have a propulsion subsystem, depending on whether or not the
mission profile calls for propulsion. The Swift spacecraft is an example of a spacecraft that
does not have a propulsion subsystem. Typically though, LEO spacecraft include a propulsion
subsystem for altitude adjustments (drag make-up maneuvers) and inclination adjustment
maneuvers. A propulsion system is also needed for spacecraft that perform momentum
management maneuvers. Components of a conventional propulsion subsystem include fuel,
tankage, valves, pipes, and thrusters. The thermal control system interfaces with the propulsion
subsystem by monitoring the temperature of those components, and by preheating tanks and
thrusters in preparation for a spacecraft maneuver.
Structures
Spacecraft must be engineered to withstand launch loads imparted by the launch vehicle, and
must have a point of attachment for all the other subsystems. Depending on mission profile, the
structural subsystem might need to withstand loads imparted by entry into the atmosphere of
another planetary body, and landing on the surface of another planetary body.
Payload
The payload depends on the mission of the spacecraft, and is typically regarded as the part of
the spacecraft "that pays the bills". Typical payloads could include scientific instruments
(cameras, telescopes, or particle detectors, for example), cargo, or a human crew.
Ground segment
The ground segment, though not technically part of the spacecraft, is vital to the operation of
the spacecraft. Typical components of a ground segment in use during normal operations
include a mission operations facility where the flight operations team conducts the operations
of the spacecraft, a data processing and storage facility, ground stations to radiate signals to
and receive signals from the spacecraft, and a voice and data communications network to
connect all mission elements.[17]
 Launch vehicle
The launch vehicle propels the spacecraft from Earth's surface, through the atmosphere, and
into an orbit, the exact orbit being dependent on the mission configuration. The launch vehicle
may be expendable or reusable.

See also

Astrionics

Flying saucer

List of fictional spacecraft

NewSpace

Spacecraft design

Space exploration

Space launch

Space suit

Spaceflight records

Starship

Timeline of Solar System exploration

U.S. Space Exploration History on U.S. Stamps

References

Notes

1. Adams, Sam (29 August 2016). "Taiwanese navy fires NUCLEAR MISSILE at fisherman during
horrifying accident" .

2. "At Mach-10, Taiwan's Hsiung Feng-III 'Anti-China' Missiles could be faster than the
BrahMos" . defencenews.in. Archived from the original on 2017-08-07. Retrieved
2019-01-08.

3. "Taiwanese navy sinks fishing boat with hypersonic missile fired BY MISTAKE as tensions
rise" . 2 September 2016.

4. Villasanta, Arthur Dominic (21 October 2016). "Taiwan Extending the Range of its Hsiung
Feng III Missiles to Reach China" .
 5. Elias, Jibu (10 April 2018). "TSMC set to beat Intel to become the world's most advanced
chipmaker" . PCMag India.

6. "TSMC is about to become the world's most advanced chipmaker" . The Economist. 5 April
2018.

7. News, Taiwan. "Taiwan's upgraded 'Cloud Peak' mi... - Taiwan News" .

8. "Taiwan To Upgrade 'Cloud Peak' Medium-range Missiles For Micro-Satellites Launch" .

www.defenseworld.net.

9. Sheldon, John. "Taiwan's New Ballistic Missile Capable of Launching Microsatellites -

SpaceWatch.Global" . spacewatch.global.

10. Peenemünde (Dokumentation) Berlin: Moewig, 1984.ISBN 3-8118-4341-9.

11. Dougall, Walter A. (Winter 2010) "Shooting the duck" , American Heritage

12. Swenson, L. Jr.; Grimwood, J. M.; Alexander, C. C. This New Ocean, A History of Project
Mercury. pp. 66–62424. "On October 4, 1957 Sputnik I shot into orbit and forcibly opened the
Space Age."

13. "Vostok" . Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29.

14. Bartels, Meghan; November 6, Space com Senior Writer |; ET, 2018 07:00am. "NASA's Parker
Solar Probe Just Made Its First Close Pass by the Sun!" . Space.com. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

15. "Spacecraft escaping the Solar System" . www.heavens-above.com. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

16. "Wednesday, August 03, 2011India's Space Shuttle [Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)]
program" . AA Me, IN. 2011. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved
2014-10-22.

17. "The Rosetta ground segment" . ESA.int. 2004-02-17. Archived from the original on 2008-
03-11. Retrieved 2008-02-11.

Bibliography

Knight, Will (January 23, 2006). "Spacecraft skin 'heals' itself" . New Scientist. Retrieved
February 11, 2008.

Wertz, James; Larson, Wiley J (1999). Space Mission Analysis and Design (3rd ed.). Torrance,
California: Microcosm. ISBN 978-1-881883-10-4.

External links

Spacecraft
at Wikipedia's sister projects
 Definitions from
Wiktionary

Media from Wikimedia

Commons

Spacecraft at the Encyclopædia Britannica

NASA: Space Science Spacecraft Missions

NSSDC Master Catalog Spacecraft Query Form

Early History of Spacecraft

Basics of Spaceflight tutorial from JPL/Caltech

International Spaceflight Museum

Last edited 9 days ago by KarenLMasters