122-620: The Dynetics Autonomous Logistics Platform for All-Moon Cargo Access ( ALPACA )—also known as Dynetics HLS —(ILV) is a human spaceflight lunar lander design concept proposed in 2020/21 for the NASA Human Landing System (HLS) component of the Artemis program . Dynetics was the lead contractor for the ALPACA lander—other contractors included Sierra Nevada Corporation —for NASA's Artemis Program . The lander concept
244-599: A Cygnus cargo capsule in 2017. The weather satellite NOAA-20 (JPSS-1) was launched by a Delta II rocket in November 2017. An Atlas V carried the SBIRS-GEO 4 military satellite in January 2018. The Atlas V's launch of NASA 's InSight to Mars in 2018 was the first interplanetary probe to depart from the U.S. West Coast. In August 2018, a Delta IV Heavy launched Parker Solar Probe , NASA's solar space probe that
366-658: A Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite, the Juno spacecraft and Curiosity rover. The Delta II launches placed the SAC-D and Suomi NPP satellites into orbit, as well as two spacecraft associated with NASA's GRAIL lunar mission. Delta IV launches carried the NROL-49 , NROL-27 , and another GPS satellite. ULA's 2012 launches included six Atlas Vs and four Delta IVs. The Atlas system carried Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) and AEHF satellites, another Boeing X-37,
488-417: A spacecraft on a LVM 3 rocket and return them safely for a water landing at a predefined landing zone. On 15 August 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , declared India will independently send humans into space before the 75th anniversary of independence in 2022. In 2019, ISRO revealed plans for a space station by 2030, followed by a crewed lunar mission. The program envisages the development of
610-402: A Space Task Group to recommend follow-on human spaceflight programs after Apollo. The group proposed an ambitious Space Transportation System based on a reusable Space Shuttle , which consisted of a winged, internally fueled orbiter stage burning liquid hydrogen, launched with a similar, but larger kerosene -fueled booster stage, each equipped with airbreathing jet engines for powered return to
732-405: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket into a stable parking orbit . During the next hour, the second stage reignited to place Lucy on an interplanetary trajectory in a heliocentric orbit on a twelve-year mission to two groups of Sun-Jupiter Lagrange point Trojan asteroids as well as a close flyby of a mainbelt asteroid during one of three planned passes through the asteroid belt . If
854-520: A contract to advance in the process, with Dynetics receiving a $ 40.8 million contract. In terms of physical size, the Dynetics design is the smallest of the three proposals funded by NASA in 2020; however, it is the second largest in terms of development funding secured from NASA. The ALPACA (if ultimately selected) will land and then ascend back into orbit and rendezvous with the NASA Orion or
976-591: A fully-autonomous orbital vehicle capable of carrying 2 or 3 crew members to an about 300 km (190 mi) low Earth orbit and bringing them safely back home. Since 2008, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has developed the H-II Transfer Vehicle cargo-spacecraft-based crewed spacecraft and Kibō Japanese Experiment Module –based small space laboratory. NASA is developing a plan to land humans on Mars by
1098-664: A human into orbit independently. The goal of the second phase of CMS was to make technology breakthroughs in extravehicular activities (EVA, or spacewalk), space rendezvous , and docking to support short-term human activities in space. On 25 September 2008 during the flight of Shenzhou 7 , Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming completed China's first EVA. In 2011, China launched the Tiangong 1 target spacecraft and Shenzhou 8 uncrewed spacecraft. The two spacecraft completed China's first automatic rendezvous and docking on 3 November 2011. About 9 months later, Tiangong 1 completed
1220-845: A launch of the Atlas V rocket on 22 March 2016 , a minor first-stage anomaly led to shutdown of the first-stage engine approximately five seconds before anticipated. The Centaur upper stage was able to compensate by firing for approximately one minute longer than planned using its reserved fuel margin. Atlas V rockets carried MUOS-5 in June 2016, NROL-61 satellites in July 2016, and the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in September 2016. ULA launched multiple satellites in late 2016. The weather satellite Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R)
1342-805: A lower than intended orbit. The NRO declared the launch a success. 2007 also saw ULA's first two interplanetary spacecraft launches using the Delta II; the Phoenix probe was launched to Mars in August 2007 and the Dawn satellite to was launched to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres in September 2007. Using a Delta II, the WorldView-1 satellite was also launched into a low Earth orbit on behalf of DigitalGlobe . The company's first launch to geostationary transfer orbit using an Atlas V 421 variant carrying
SECTION 10
#17327910830371464-467: A lunar lander for NASA was rejected in 2021 with the agency calling the companies bid "low in readiness." The Delta family of rockets was retired in early 2024, having been replaced in the market by the SpaceX's Falcon Heavy , which was more powerful, less expensive, and faster to build, leading ULA to lose all commercial contracts. ULA planned an orderly retirement and had procured and had in hand 100 of
1586-606: A new engine, ULA announced it would be partnering with Blue Origin to develop the BE-4 . The company also announced the Vulcan, a next-generation launch vehicle, to be funded through a public-private partnership. Bruno believed the Vulcan would offer costs that would make it competitive in the commercial satellite sector. However, despite these cost-cutting measures, ULA launches continued to be more expensive than those offered by SpaceX. The company's joint bid with Dynetics to develop
1708-426: A part of the initial two demonstration flights. The Dynetics HLS vehicle has a low crew cabin making ingress and egress very simple. The crew compartment also includes an integrated airlock to allow for easy EVA's without depressurizing the whole cabin. The crew cabin can be converted into a base module or a pressurized lunar rover. In September 2020 a full scale mockup of the lander was completed in order to test
1830-495: A raft, and the engines and avionics module would be retrieved for refurbishment. ULA estimates that this approach could reduce the cost of producing the first stage of its rockets by 65%. Development of the Vulcan Centaur has been funded as a public–private partnership with the U.S. government contributing approximately US$ 1.2 billion toward initial development costs. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are expected to contribute
1952-580: A runway at the Kennedy Space Center launch site. Other components of the system included a permanent, modular space station; reusable space tug ; and nuclear interplanetary ferry, leading to a human expedition to Mars as early as 1986 or as late as 2000, depending on the level of funding allocated. However, Nixon knew the American political climate would not support congressional funding for such an ambition, and killed proposals for all but
2074-726: A sole HLS award was won by SpaceX with the Starship HLS proposal. However, Dynetics, together with Blue Origin, protested this decision with the GAO through the S. 1260, also known as the US Innovation and Competitiveness Act. The appeal was unsuccessful, and on 30 July 2021, GAO upheld NASA's choice of SpaceX as the sole recipient of the HLS contract. Dynetics resubmitted their proposal under Appendix N, which covered sustainable lunar landers. On September 14, NASA awarded five companies
2196-473: A third, successful attempt at crewed spaceflight. To achieve independent human spaceflight capability, China developed the Shenzhou spacecraft and Long March 2F rocket dedicated to human spaceflight in the next few years, along with critical infrastructures like a new launch site and flight control center being built. The first uncrewed spacecraft, Shenzhou 1 , was launched on 20 November 1999 and recovered
2318-645: A top secret spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, on board their Atlas V in a 531 configuration. This launch was notable because it was the first flight of the GEM-63 solid rocket boosters, a version of which will be used on their Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle. On 18 May 2021, the SBIRS GEO 5 missile-warning satellite was launched on an Atlas V 421 rocket. The Lucy spaceflight began on 16 October 2021 upon launch aboard
2440-559: Is investigating a way to partially reuse its launch vehicles with the Sensible Modular Autonomous Return Technology (SMART) system. This system envisions jettisoning the BE-4 engines and avionics as a single unit which would be protected by an inflatable heat shield during its descent back to Earth. After being slowed by parachutes and splashing down in the ocean, the heat shield would double as
2562-443: Is similar to the gap between the end of Apollo in 1975 and the first Space Shuttle flight in 1981, and is referred to by a presidential Blue Ribbon Committee as the U.S. human spaceflight gap. Since the early 2000s, a variety of private spaceflight ventures have been undertaken. As of November 2024, SpaceX and Boeing have launched humans to orbit, while Blue Origin has launched 8 crewed flights, six of which crossed
SECTION 20
#17327910830372684-493: Is sometimes criticized as imperialist and lacking. In addition to the lack of international inclusion, the inclusion of women and people of color has also been lacking. To make spaceflight more inclusive, organizations such as the Justspace Alliance and IAU -featured Inclusive Astronomy have been formed in recent years. The first woman to ever enter space was Valentina Tereshkova . She flew in 1963, but it
2806-730: Is the same size as the Delta family's Common Booster Core , uses two BE-4 engines built by Blue Origin and fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid methane (liquefied natural gas). The second stage is the Centaur V , an improved version of the Centaur III used on the Atlas, which is powered by two RL10 engines built by Aerojet Rocketdyne , fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The first stage can be supplemented by up to six GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters built by Northrop Grumman . ULA
2928-702: The Kibō Japanese Experiment Module and H-II Transfer Vehicle cargo spacecraft. As an alternative to HOPE-X, NASDA in 2001 proposed the Fuji crew capsule for independent or ISS flights, but the project did not proceed to the contracting stage. From 1993 to 1997, the Japanese Rocket Society , Kawasaki Heavy Industries , and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries worked on the proposed Kankoh-maru vertical-takeoff-and-landing single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch system. In 2005, this system
3050-519: The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 , Congress passed a law in 2016 that prohibited the military from procuring additional launch services on vehicles that use the RD-180 engine after 2022. To reduce costs, ULA undertook a significant restructuring to streamlining operations by eventually consolidating from five launchpads to two, and reducing its workforce from 3,600 to 2,500 by 2018. To develop
3172-457: The Centaur upper stage; it was the first three-burn mission for Atlas V. ULA's first commercial mission COSMO-SkyMed was launched on behalf of Italy's Ministry of Defense three months later using a Delta II rocket. On June 15, 2007, the engine in the Centaur upper stage of a ULA-launched Atlas V shut down early, leaving its payload – a pair of NROL-30 ocean surveillance satellites – in
3294-721: The Commercial Spaceflight Federation during this period. The introduction of lower-cost competition and rising ULA launch costs attracted scrutiny. ULA's reliance on government funding for launch readiness, including maintaining multiple launchpads and rocket variants, became a point of discussion, particularly as the EELV program experienced a cost breach in 2012. ULA was awarded a DoD contract in December 2013 to provide 36 rocket cores for up to 28 launches. The award drew protest from SpaceX , which said
3416-589: The Constellation program included plans for retiring the Space Shuttle program and replacing it with the capability for spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit. In the 2011 United States federal budget , the Obama administration canceled Constellation for being over budget and behind schedule, while not innovating and investing in critical new technologies. As part of the Artemis program , NASA is developing
3538-994: The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The Delta IV rockets carried the NROL-26 , GOES 14 , and WGS-3 satellites. In 2010, Atlas V launches deployed the Solar Dynamics Observatory , the first Boeing X-37B , the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite, and the NROL-41 . The Delta II system placed the last COSMO-SkyMed and Delta IV launches deployed the GOES 15 , GPS Block IIF , and USA-223 satellites. ULA completed eleven launches in 2011, including five by Atlas, three by Delta II, and three by Delta IV. The Atlas system orbited another Boeing X-37, two NROL-34 signals intelligence satellites,
3660-532: The Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA , but it also serves commercial clients. Boeing and Lockheed Martin announced on 2 May 2005 that they would establish a 50/50 joint venture , United Launch Alliance (ULA), to consolidate their space launch operations. The two companies had long competed for launch services contracts from the DoD, and their Atlas and Delta rockets were the two launch vehicles selected under
3782-553: The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The DoD had hoped the program would foster the creation of a strong, competitive commercial launch market. However, both companies said that this competition had made space launches unprofitable. Boeing's future in the program was also threatened in 2003 when it was found to be in possession of proprietary documents from Lockheed Martin. To end litigation and competition, both companies agreed to form
Dynetics HLS - Misplaced Pages Continue
3904-542: The Indian Human Spaceflight Program , India was planning to send humans into space on its orbital vehicle Gaganyaan before August 2022, but it has been delayed to 2024, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) began work on this project in 2006. The initial objective is to carry a crew of two or three to low Earth orbit (LEO) for a 3-to-7-day flight in
4026-772: The Kepler and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer space telescopes. The Atlas launches carried the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS mission as part of the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program , which was later intentionally crashed into the Moon and found the existence of water; other 2009 Atlas V launches in included Intelsat 14 , WGS-2 , PAN , and a weather satellite as part of
4148-729: The Kármán line , the 100 kilometres (62 mi) altitude used by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) to denote the edge of space. In 1961, US President John F. Kennedy raised the stakes of the Space Race by setting the goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s. That same year, the US began the Apollo program of launching three-man capsules atop
4270-530: The Kármán line . Virgin Galactic has launched crew to a height above 80 km (50 mi) on a suborbital trajectory. Several other companies, including Sierra Nevada and Copenhagen Suborbitals , have developed crewed spacecraft. SpaceX, Boeing, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic plan to fly commercial passengers in the emerging space tourism market. SpaceX has developed Crew Dragon flying on Falcon 9 . It first launched astronauts to orbit and to
4392-618: The Lunar Gateway . ALPACA is expected to be subsequently proposed to be used to deliver lunar cargo such as ISRU technology, base modules and pressurized rovers to the surface of the Moon. Dynetics is one of three organizations who developed a NASA-funded lunar lander design for the Artemis program over a year-long period in 2020–2021, starting in May 2020. The milestone-based requirements of
4514-455: The Lynx single-passenger spaceplane since the 2000s, but development was halted in 2017. Participation and representation of humanity in space has been an issue ever since the first phase of space exploration. Some rights of non-spacefaring countries have been secured through international space law , declaring space the " province of all mankind ", though the sharing of space by all humanity
4636-723: The Orion spacecraft to be launched by the Space Launch System . Under the Commercial Crew Development plan, NASA relies on transportation services provided by the private sector to reach low Earth orbit, such as SpaceX Dragon 2 , the Boeing Starliner or Sierra Nevada Corporation 's Dream Chaser . The period between the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011 and the first launch into space of SpaceShipTwo Flight VP-03 on 13 December 2018
4758-533: The Peregrine lunar lander into orbit toward the moon. This launch was intended to allow Astrobotic Technology to conduct five lunar experiments for NASA. ULA completed a second test flight, named Cert-2, of the Vulcan Centaur on the morning of October 4, 2024 at Cape Canaveral. The Space Force will examine the flight data to determine if Vulcan Centaur will be certified for national security missions. Developed by Lockheed Martin and transitioned to ULA in 2006,
4880-533: The Saturn family of launch vehicles . In 1962, the US began Project Gemini , which flew 10 missions with two-man crews launched by Titan II rockets in 1965 and 1966. Gemini's objective was to support Apollo by developing American orbital spaceflight experience and techniques to be used during the Moon mission. Meanwhile, the USSR remained silent about their intentions to send humans to the Moon and proceeded to stretch
5002-664: The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation . The classified NROL-55 satellite was launched by an Atlas V rocket several days later. Atlas V rockets launched GPS Block IIF satellites and the Cygnus cargo spacecraft in November 2015 and December 2015, respectively. In 2016, Delta IV rockets carried the NROL-45 satellite and Air Force Space Command 6 mission in February 2016 and August 2016, respectively. During
Dynetics HLS - Misplaced Pages Continue
5124-569: The Shuguang spacecraft. Nineteen PLAAF pilots were selected for this goal in March 1971. The Shuguang-1 spacecraft, to be launched with the CZ-2A rocket, was designed to carry a crew of two. The program was officially canceled on 13 May 1972 for economic reasons. In 1992, under China Manned Space Program (CMS), also known as "Project 921", authorization and funding was given for the first phase of
5246-454: The Tianhe core module , was launched into orbit by China's most powerful rocket Long March 5B on 29 April 2021. It was later visited by multiple cargo and crewed spacecraft and demonstrated China's capability of sustaining Chinese astronauts' long-term stay in space. According to CMS announcement, all missions of Tiangong Space Station are scheduled to be carried out by the end of 2022. Once
5368-614: The USA-195 (or WGS -1) communications satellite also occurred that year. ULA's tenth mission was launching satellite GPS IIR-17 into medium Earth orbit on a Delta II. The company completed its first Delta IV launch using the Delta IV Heavy rocket to place a payload into geosynchronous orbit in November 2007, which was followed by three more launches in December 2007. 2008 saw seven launches, including Atlas V's from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 3E and five others using
5490-469: The rocket garden at Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex . Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family , which was introduced in the early 2000s. The Delta IV was originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space & Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, and became a ULA product in 2006. The Delta IV was mostly used for launching United States Air Force military payloads but
5612-546: The test flight phase of their development process. One large spaceliner concept currently in early development is the SpaceX Starship , which, in addition to replacing the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles in the legacy Earth-orbit market after 2020, has been proposed by SpaceX for long-distance commercial travel on Earth, flying 100+ people suborbitally between two points in under one hour, also known as "Earth-to-Earth". Small spaceplane or small capsule suborbital spacecraft have been under development for
5734-560: The 1978 flight of Vladimir Remek. As of 2010 , citizens from 38 nations (including space tourists ) have flown in space aboard Soviet, American, Russian, and Chinese spacecraft. Human spaceflight programs have been conducted by the Soviet Union–Russian Federation, the United States, Mainland China , and by American private spaceflight companies. The following space vehicles and spaceports are currently used for launching human spaceflights: The following space stations are currently maintained in Earth orbit for human occupation: Most of
5856-497: The 2030s. The first step has begun with Artemis I in 2022, sending an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon and returning it to Earth after a 25-day mission. SpaceX is developing Starship , a fully reusable two-stage system, with near-Earth and cislunar applications and an ultimate goal of landing on Mars. The upper stage of the Starship system, also called Starship, has had 9 atmospheric test flights as of September 2021. The first test flight of
5978-453: The ALPACA could be refueled from liquid oxygen created in-situ on the surface from lunar water ice. The Dynetics HLS scored highest of the proposed landers in NASA's initial technical review in August 2020. The largest issue identified according to NASA is the advanced experimental thrust structure used in the Dynetics design, and that it could pose a threat to the development time as it relies on immature technology. However in Option A it had
6100-444: The Atlas V has been ULA's primary launch vehicle for over two decades. However, the rocket is currently nearing retirement, with all remaining flights booked and no new orders accepted. As of July 2024, Atlas V has completed 101 missions, with 15 launches scheduled. The rocket has been offered in eleven configurations , though only the "551" and "N22" remain operational. Born from the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program,
6222-692: The Atlas V's first successful launch took place in 2002. This expendable launch system utilizes a two-stage design. The first stage, named the Common Core Booster , uses a single Russian-made RD-180 engine, fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen. The second stage, a Centaur III powered by the RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The first stage can be supplemented by up to five AJ-60A or GEM 63 solid rocket boosters. The Atlas V has undergone modifications for human spaceflight, specifically for Boeing's Starliner capsule. These modifications include upgraded computers for monitoring and abort capabilities, data links, and manual abort mechanisms for
SECTION 50
#17327910830376344-443: The Atlas V, which is built in Russia, and subject to international sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine . The Vulcan Centaur has a maximum liftoff thrust of 3,800,000 pounds-force (17,000 kN), enabling it to carry 56,000 pounds (25,000 kg) to low Earth orbit , 33,000 lb (15,000 kg) to a geostationary transfer orbit , and 16,000 lb (7,300 kg) to geostationary orbit . The Vulcan first stage
6466-445: The Delta II. The Atlas launch carried NROL-28 in March 2008 and in September 2008 the GeoEye-1 satellite was orbited by a Delta II rocket. ULA completed eight Delta II, five Atlas V, and three Delta IV launches in 2009. The Delta II launches carried three Space Tracking and Surveillance System satellites over two launches, two Global Positioning System satellites, and the NOAA-19 and WorldView-2 satellites, as well as
6588-404: The GPS III Magellan project. An Atlas V carried Boeing's Starliner Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission for NASA in December 2019. In 2020, an Atlas V carried the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, an international collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA to provide a new global view of the Sun. In March 2020, an Atlas V also launched Advanced Extremely High Frequency 6 (AEHF-6),
6710-424: The HLS contractors that the original ten-month program would be extended two months to end on or before 30 April 2021. In April 2021, NASA rejected the Dynetics HLS design and instead selected Starship HLS for crewed lunar lander development plus the two lunar demonstration flights, in a contract valued at US$ 2.89 billion over several years. There were technical weaknesses identified in the Dynetics proposal which
6832-513: The ISS in May 2020 as part of the Demo-2 mission. Developed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development program, the capsule is also available for flights with other customers. A first tourist mission, Inspiration4 , launched in September 2021. Boeing developed the Starliner capsule as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development program, which is launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle. Starliner made an uncrewed flight in December 2019. A second uncrewed flight attempt
6954-445: The Intruder and Quasar satellites, and the Van Allen Probes . Delta IVs deployed GPS and WGS satellites USA-233 , as well as NROL-25 and NROL-15 on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office. In 2013, the Atlas flew eight times. The system launched the TDRS-11 , Landsat 8 , AEHF-3 , and NROL-39 satellites, as well as SBIRS, GPS, and MUOS satellites, as well as NASA's MAVEN space probe to Mars. Delta IV launches orbited
7076-411: The Moon, and sent Frank Borman , James Lovell , and William Anders into 10 orbits around the Moon in Apollo 8 in December 1968. In 1969, Apollo 11 accomplished Kennedy's goal by landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon on 21 July and returning them safely on 24 July, along with Command Module pilot Michael Collins . Through 1972, a total of six Apollo missions landed 12 men to walk on
7198-422: The Moon, half of which drove electric powered vehicles on the surface. The crew of Apollo 13 — Jim Lovell , Jack Swigert , and Fred Haise —survived an in-flight spacecraft failure, they flew by the Moon without landing, and returned safely to Earth. During this time, the USSR secretly pursued crewed lunar orbiting and landing programs . They successfully developed the three-person Soyuz spacecraft for use in
7320-407: The Russian Federal Space Agency, which became known as the Roscosmos State Corporation . The Shuttle-Mir Program included American Space Shuttles visiting the Mir space station, Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American astronaut flying aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for long-duration expeditions aboard Mir . In 1993, President Bill Clinton secured Russia's cooperation in converting
7442-406: The Shuttle, possibly to be followed by the space station. Plans for the Shuttle were scaled back to reduce development risk, cost, and time, replacing the piloted fly-back booster with two reusable solid rocket boosters , and the smaller orbiter would use an expendable external propellant tank to feed its hydrogen-fueled main engines . The orbiter would have to make unpowered landings. In 1973,
SECTION 60
#17327910830377564-443: The Soviet Union's Vostok program on 12 April 1961 at the beginning of the Space Race . On 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, as part of Project Mercury . Humans traveled to the Moon nine times between 1968 and 1972 as part of the United States' Apollo program , and have had a continuous presence in space for 24 years and 26 days on the International Space Station (ISS). On 15 October 2003,
7686-415: The U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane was carried by an Atlas V rocket in May 2015, and a Delta IV orbited the WGS-7 satellite in July 2015. The fourth MUOS satellite was orbited by an Atlas V in September 2015. ULA's 100th consecutive successful liftoff was completed on 2 October 2015, when an Atlas V rocket orbited a Mexican Satellite System communications satellite on behalf of
7808-435: The ULA joint venture. During the renewal of the EELV contract, the DoD said the merger would provide annual cost savings of $ 100–150 million. SpaceX attempted to challenge the merger on anti-trust grounds, saying it would create a space launch monopoly. The Federal Trade Commission ultimately granted ULA anti-trust clearance, prioritizing national security access to space over potential competition concerns. Michael Gass
7930-535: The US launched the Skylab sortie space station and inhabited it for 171 days with three crews ferried aboard an Apollo spacecraft. During that time, President Richard Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev were negotiating an easing of Cold War tensions known as détente . During the détente, they negotiated the Apollo–Soyuz program, in which an Apollo spacecraft carrying a special docking adapter module would rendezvous and dock with Soyuz 19 in 1975. The American and Soviet crews shook hands in space, but
8052-496: The US's reusable Space Shuttle orbiter , which they called Buran -class orbiter or simply Buran , which was designed to be launched into orbit by the expendable Energia rocket, and was capable of robotic orbital flight and landing. Unlike the Space Shuttle, Buran had no main rocket engines, but like the Space Shuttle orbiter, it used smaller rocket engines to perform its final orbital insertion. A single uncrewed orbital test flight took place in November 1988. A second test flight
8174-435: The US. China was the third nation in the world, after the USSR and US, to send humans into space. During the Space Race between the two superpowers, which culminated with Apollo 11 landing humans on the Moon, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai decided on 14 July 1967 that China should not be left behind, and initiated their own crewed space program: the top-secret Project 714, which aimed to put two people into space by 1973 with
8296-532: The company subcontracts out the production of rocket engines and solid rocket boosters . When founded, the company inherited the Atlas rocket family from Lockheed Martin and the Delta rocket family from Boeing. As of 2024, the Delta family has been retired and the Atlas V is in the process of being retired. ULA began development of the Vulcan Centaur in 2014 as replacement for both the Atlas and Delta rocket families. The Vulcan Centaur completed its maiden flight in January 2024. The primary customers of ULA are
8418-543: The construction is completed, Tiangong will enter the application and development phase, which is poised to last for no less than 10 years. The European Space Agency began development of the Hermes shuttle spaceplane in 1987, to be launched on the Ariane 5 expendable launch vehicle. It was intended to dock with the European Columbus space station . The projects were canceled in 1992 when it became clear that neither cost nor performance goals could be achieved. No Hermes shuttles were ever built. The Columbus space station
8540-399: The construction of which took place from 1986 to 1996. Mir orbited at an altitude of 354 kilometers (191 nautical miles), at an orbital inclination of 51.6°. It was occupied for 4,592 days and made a controlled reentry in 2001. The Space Shuttle started flying in 1981, but the US Congress failed to approve sufficient funds to make Space Station Freedom a reality. A fleet of four shuttles
8662-420: The cost of ULA's launches were approximately US$ 460 million each and proposed a price of US$ 90 million to provide similar launches. In response, Gass said ULA's average launch price was US$ 225 million, with future launches as low as US$ 100 million. In a leadership change at ULA in August 2014, Tory Bruno assumed the CEO position, marking a new strategic direction for the company. Under Bruno's leadership, ULA
8784-408: The crew. Notably, Starliner missions use a unique Atlas V configuration: two solid rocket boosters, no payload fairing, and a dual-engine Centaur second stage for a shallower launch profile and reduced crew G-forces. This configuration stands 172 feet tall, and ULA was contracted for nine Starliner missions with Atlas V. The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) provides the second stage boost for
8906-431: The decades, a number of spacecraft have been proposed for spaceliner passenger travel. Somewhat analogous to travel by airliner after the middle of the 20th century, these vehicles are proposed to transport large numbers of passengers to destinations in space, or on Earth via suborbital spaceflights . To date, none of these concepts have been built, although a few vehicles that carry fewer than 10 persons are currently in
9028-517: The delivery of nuclear weapons , producing rockets large enough to be adapted to carry the first artificial satellites into low Earth orbit . After the first satellites were launched in 1957 and 1958 by the Soviet Union, the US began work on Project Mercury , with the aim of launching men into orbit. The USSR was secretly pursuing the Vostok program to accomplish the same thing, and launched
9150-697: The design contract included NASA paying Dynetics US$ 253 million in design development funding. The other teams selected in 2020 were the ' National Team '—led by Blue Origin but including Lockheed Martin , Northrop Grumman , and Draper (with US$ 579 million in NASA design funding) and SpaceX (with US$ 135 million in NASA funding). At the end of the ten-month program on 28 February 2021, NASA had planned to evaluate which contractors would be offered contracts for initial demonstration missions and select firms for development and maturation of their lunar lander system designs. However, on 27 January 2021, NASA informed each of
9272-447: The engines to continue building Atlas V as it developed a replacement rocket. At the time of the announcement they could fly 29 more missions and all of them had been sold, so no new orders would be accepted. ULA faces an uncertain future. In 2023, the company announced that it was for sale. In December 2023, it was announced that Jeff Bezos was looking at purchasing the company to merge it with Blue Origin, which he also owns. When
9394-460: The entire fully fueled lunar vehicle into lunar orbit using its Exploration Upper Stage . The ALPACA is refueled in lunar orbit in four Vulcan Centaur flights. The ALPACA can be reused for both crewed lunar landings and autonomous cargo landings. The first ALPACA will be reused autonomously after its first crewed landing as a proof of concept for NASA. In order to prevent boil-off, refueling and landing will take place in 2-3 week intervals. Long term,
9516-741: The fifth and sixth Wideband Global SATCOM satellites WGS-5 and WGS-6 , as well as NROL-65 . In 2014, ULA's Atlas V orbited the TDRS-12 communications satellite in January, the WorldView-3 commercial satellite in August 2014, and the CLIO communications satellite during September and October 2014. Atlas rockets also carried the satellites DMSP-5D-3/F19, NROL-67, NROL-33, and NROL-35. Delta IV rockets orbited GPS satellites and two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites, and in July 2014, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2
9638-502: The first American in orbit, aboard Friendship 7 on a Mercury-Atlas rocket . The USSR launched five more cosmonauts in Vostok capsules , including the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova , aboard Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. Through 1963, the US launched a total of two astronauts in suborbital flights and four into orbit. The US also made two North American X-15 flights ( 90 and 91 , piloted by Joseph A. Walker ), that exceeded
9760-650: The first Chinese taikonaut, Yang Liwei , went to space as part of Shenzhou 5 , the first Chinese human spaceflight. As of March 2024, humans have not traveled beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 lunar mission in December 1972. Currently, the United States, Russia, and China are the only countries with public or commercial human spaceflight-capable programs . Non-governmental spaceflight companies have been working to develop human space programs of their own, e.g. for space tourism or commercial in-space research . The first private human spaceflight launch
9882-687: The first U.S. Space Force National Security Mission. In May 2020, ULA launched an Atlas V rocket carrying the USSF-7 mission with the X-37B spaceplane for the U.S Space Force and the mission honored victims of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as first responders , health professionals , military personnel, and other essential workers . On 30 July 2020, Atlas V in the 541 configuration successfully launched Perseverance and Ingenuity as part of Mars 2020 towards Mars. In November 2020, ULA launched NROL-101,
10004-430: The first human into space, the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin . On 12 April 1961, Gagarin was launched aboard Vostok 1 on a Vostok 3KA rocket and completed a single orbit. On 5 May 1961, the US launched its first astronaut , Alan Shepard , on a suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7 on a Mercury-Redstone rocket . Unlike Gagarin, Shepard manually controlled his spacecraft's attitude . On 20 February 1962, John Glenn became
10126-429: The first manual rendezvous and docking with Shenzhou 9 , which carried China's first female astronaut Liu Yang . In September 2016, Tiangong 2 was launched into orbit. It was a space laboratory with more advanced functions and equipment than Tiangong 1 . A month later, Shenzhou 11 was launched and docked with Tiangong 2 . Two astronauts entered Tiangong 2 and were stationed for about 30 days, verifying
10248-468: The first spacewalk, but overcame the early Soviet lead by performing several spacewalks, solving the problem of astronaut fatigue caused by compensating for the lack of gravity, demonstrating the ability of humans to endure two weeks in space, and performing the first space rendezvous and docking of spacecraft. The US succeeded in developing the Saturn V rocket necessary to send the Apollo spacecraft to
10370-584: The first woman to enter space through the United States program.Since then, eleven other countries have allowed women astronauts. The first all-female spacewalk occurred in 2018, by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir . These two women had both participated in separate spacewalks with NASA. The first mission to the Moon with a woman aboard is planned for 2024. Despite these developments, women are still underrepresented among astronauts and especially cosmonauts. More than 600 people have flown in space but only 75 have been women. Issues that block potential applicants from
10492-528: The flight than the center CBC. The 5 meter diameter composite fairing was standard on the Delta IV Heavy, with an aluminum isogrid fairing also available. The aluminum trisector (three-part) fairing was built by Boeing and derived from a Titan IV fairing. The trisector fairing was first used on the DSP-23 flight. Delta IV Heavy had 16 launches in its lifetime. Statistics are up-to-date as of 4 October 2024 . The first launch conducted by ULA
10614-491: The formation of ULA. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. ULA flew thirty missions using Delta II starting in 2006. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000 and the two later Delta 7000 variants ("Light" and "Heavy"). The rocket flew its final mission ICESat-2 on 15 September 2018. A nearly-complete Delta II, made from flight-qualified spare parts, is displayed in its 7320-10 configuration in
10736-540: The fully integrated two-stage system occurred in April 2023. A modified version of Starship is being developed for the Artemis program . United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC ( ULA ) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security . The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets, but
10858-540: The hydrogen tank and are covered by the interstage during launch. Only three ICPS stages were ever built, one for each of the Artemis I , II , and III missions. Following these missions, the ICPS will be replaced by the Exploration Upper Stage built by Boeing. Delta II was an expendable launch system that was originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas , and was later built by Boeing prior to
10980-565: The initial configuration (Block 1) of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). The ICPS design was based on the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage employed by ULA's Delta launch vehicles. The ICPS is positioned atop the SLS core stage and directly below the Orion spacecraft . The ICPS has a cylindrical liquid hydrogen tank, structurally designed to bear launch loads, while the liquid oxygen and single RL10B-2 engine are suspended from
11102-407: The interior layout and its ingress / egress capabilities. The ALPACA is designed to be launched on ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket. Vulcan launches the full ALPACA vehicle to NRHO . Four more Vulcan launches carry either a Centaur Tanker to refuel the liquid methane, liquid oxygen tanks of the lander or a logistics vehicle (MULE). Alternatively, if available, a SLS Block 1B could launch
11224-558: The joint venture was founded in 2006, ULA inherited the Atlas rocket family from Lockheed Martin and the Delta rocket family from Boeing. As of 2024, the Delta family has been retired and the Atlas V is in the process of being retired. ULA began development of the Vulcan Centaur in 2014 as replacement for both the Atlas and Delta rocket families. The Vulcan Centaur is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by ULA integrating technology from both its prior Atlas and Delta rocket families along with advancements. Vulcan has been designed to meet
11346-458: The largest member of the Delta IV family. Boeing flew it on one mission prior to the formation of ULA, and ULA on fifteen missions from 2007 to 2024. Its final launch was April 9, 2024 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . The Delta IV Heavy combined a 5 m (16 ft) diameter DCSS and payload fairing with two additional CBCs. These are strap-on boosters which are separated earlier in
11468-490: The limits of their single-pilot Vostok capsule by adapting it to a two or three-person Voskhod capsule to compete with Gemini. They were able to launch two orbital flights in 1964 and 1965 and achieved the first spacewalk , performed by Alexei Leonov on Voskhod 2 , on 8 March 1965. However, the Voskhod did not have Gemini's capability to maneuver in orbit, and the program was terminated. The US Gemini flights did not achieve
11590-535: The lunar programs, but failed to develop the N1 rocket necessary for a human landing, and discontinued their lunar programs in 1974. Upon losing the Moon race they concentrated on the development of space stations , using the Soyuz as a ferry to take cosmonauts to and from the stations. They started with a series of Salyut sortie stations from 1971 to 1986. In 1969, Nixon appointed his vice president, Spiro Agnew , to head
11712-407: The next day, marking the first step of the realization of China's human spaceflight capability. Three more uncrewed missions were conducted in the next few years in order to verify the key technologies. On 15 October 2003 Shenzhou 5 , China's first crewed spaceflight mission, put Yang Liwei in orbit for 21 hours and returned safely back to Inner Mongolia , making China the third nation to launch
11834-458: The onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously , without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts (American or other), cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers . The first human in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin , who launched as part of
11956-532: The past decade or so; as of 2017 , at least one of each type is under development. Both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have craft in active development : the SpaceShipTwo spaceplane and the New Shepard capsule, respectively. Both would carry approximately a half-dozen passengers up to space for a brief time of zero gravity before returning to the launch location. XCOR Aerospace had been developing
12078-635: The planned Space Station Freedom into the International Space Station (ISS). Construction of the station began in 1998. The station orbits at an altitude of 409 kilometers (221 nmi) and an orbital inclination of 51.65°. Several of the Space Shuttle's 135 orbital flights were to help assemble, supply, and crew the ISS. Russia has built half of the International Space Station and has continued its cooperation with
12200-438: The programs, and limit the space missions they are able to go on, are, for example: Sally Ride became the first American woman in space, in 1983. Eileen Collins was the first female Shuttle pilot, and with Shuttle mission STS-93 in 1999 she became the first woman to command a U.S. spacecraft. For many years, the USSR (later Russia) and the United States were the only countries whose astronauts flew in space. That ended with
12322-429: The purpose of the flight was purely symbolic. The two nations continued to compete rather than cooperate in space, as the US turned to developing the Space Shuttle and planning the space station, which was dubbed Freedom . The USSR launched three Almaz military sortie stations from 1973 to 1977, disguised as Salyuts. They followed Salyut with the development of Mir , the first modular, semi-permanent space station,
12444-511: The remaining cost of development, estimated at 75% of the cost, as of March 2018. The NSSL program purchased a prototype Vulcan launch in October 2018, and was awarded a contract in August 2020 to launch 60% of NSSL missions over a 5-year period beginning in 2024. The Vulcan Centaur was originally slated to conduct its maiden flight in 2019, however was delayed repeatedly. The inaugural flight occurred on January 8, 2024, successfully sending
12566-539: The requirements of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program and be capable of achieving human-rating certification to allow the launch of a vehicle such as the Boeing Starliner or Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser . The rocket was developed as ULA faced pressure to respond to growing competition from SpaceX and its reusable rockets and the need to phase out the RD-180 engine used on
12688-412: The scored the lowest. The largest issue identified was negative mass margins, meaning it wasn't able to carry out the listed mission without decreasing the mass of the lander. Human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight ) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft , often with the spacecraft being operated directly by
12810-470: The time, the only humans in space are those aboard the ISS, which generally has a crew of 7, and those aboard Tiangong, which generally has a crew of 3. NASA and ESA use the term "human spaceflight" to refer to their programs of launching people into space. These endeavors have also formerly been referred to as "manned space missions", though this is no longer official parlance according to NASA style guides, which call for gender-neutral language . Under
12932-420: The viability of astronauts' medium-term stay in space. In April 2017, China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou 1 docked with Tiangong 2 and completed multiple in-orbit propellant refueling tests, which marked the successful completion of the second phase of CMS. The third phase of CMS began in 2020. The goal of this phase is to build China's own space station, Tiangong . The first module of Tiangong ,
13054-516: Was a suborbital flight on SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004. The first commercial orbital crew launch was by SpaceX in May 2020, transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS under United States government contract. Human spaceflight capability was first developed during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR). These nations developed intercontinental ballistic missiles for
13176-685: Was a Delta II from Vandenberg Space Force Base on 14 December 2006, carrying the satellite USA-193 for the National Reconnaissance Office . The satellite failed shortly after launch and was intentionally destroyed on 21 February 2008, by an SM-3 missile that was fired from the Ticonderoga -class cruiser USS Lake Erie . ULA's first Atlas V launch was in March 2007; it was an Atlas V variant 401 launching six military research satellites for Space Test Program (STP) 1. This mission also performed three burns of
13298-453: Was also used to launch a number of U.S. government non-military payloads and one commercial satellite. Delta IV had two main versions, which allowed the family to accommodate a range of payload sizes and masses; models includes Medium, which had four configurations, and the Heavy . Payloads that would previously fly on Medium moved to either Atlas V or Vulcan Centaur . Delta IV Heavy was
13420-618: Was announced as the first CEO of ULA and oversaw the merger of the two groups. Production was consolidated into one central plant in Decatur, Alabama while all engineering was moved into a facility in Littleton, Colorado . The parent companies retained responsibility for marketing and sales of the Delta and Atlas rockets. Cost pressures led ULA to announce it would lay off 350 of its 4,200 workers in early 2009, and decommissioned two of its seven launch pads . ULA also joined and later left
13542-472: Was built: Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , and Atlantis . A fifth shuttle, Endeavour , was built to replace Challenger , which was destroyed in an accident during launch that killed 7 astronauts on 28 January 1986. From 1983 to 1998, twenty-two Shuttle flights carried components for a European Space Agency sortie space station called Spacelab in the Shuttle payload bay. The USSR copied
13664-466: Was carried by a Delta II. Orion 's first test flight was launched by a Delta IV Heavy rocket in December 2014, as part of Exploration Flight Test-1 . A Delta II rocket orbited a Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite in January 2015. In March 2015, an Atlas V rocket carried NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission spacecraft, and a Delta IV rocket orbited the GPS IIF-9 satellite on behalf of
13786-604: Was carried in November 2016, as was the WorldView-4 imaging satellite. In December 2016, the Wideband Global SATCOM's eighth satellite WGS-8 was launched on a Delta IV Medium rocket, and an Atlas V carried the EchoStar XIX communications satellite on behalf of Hughes Communications . In March 2017, WGS-9 was orbited by a Delta IV. Atlas V rockets carried NRO satellites, TDRS-M , and
13908-547: Was initiated in 2019, and in April 2020, Dynetics won a US$ 253 million contract from NASA for a year-long design concept study to be completed in early 2021. NASA had intended to subsequently issue build and test contracts to one or two of the three 2020 awardees in order to advance the human landing element of the Artemis Program. In the event, the Dynetics HLS proposal was not selected by NASA in April 2021, and
14030-669: Was launched in May 2022. A crewed flight to fully certify Starliner was launched in June 2024. Similar to SpaceX, development funding has been provided by a mix of government and private funds. Virgin Galactic is developing SpaceshipTwo , a commercial suborbital spacecraft aimed at the space tourism market. It reached space in December 2018. Blue Origin is in a multi-year test program of their New Shepard vehicle and has carried out 16 uncrewed test flights as of September 2021, and one crewed flight carrying founder Jeff Bezos , his brother Mark Bezos , aviator Wally Funk , and 18-year old Oliver Daemen on July 20, 2021. Over
14152-435: Was not selected but also budgetary constraints. Although NASA had previously stated it wanted to contract for multiple dissimilar Human Landing Systems, "only one design was selected for an initial uncrewed demonstration and the first crewed landing, due to significant budget constraints" based on the HLS funds allocated by Congress . NASA has indicated that Dynetics would be free to compete for subsequent missions that are not
14274-487: Was not until the 1980s that another woman entered space. At the time, all astronauts were required to be military test pilots; women were not able to enter this career, which is one reason for the delay in allowing women to join space crews. After the rules were changed, Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman to enter space; she was also from the Soviet Union . Sally Ride became the next woman to enter space and
14396-516: Was planned by 1993, but the program was canceled due to lack of funding and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Two more orbiters were never completed, and the one that performed the uncrewed flight was destroyed in a hangar roof collapse in May 2002. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought an end to the Cold War and opened the door to true cooperation between the US and Russia. The Soviet Soyuz and Mir programs were taken over by
14518-643: Was proposed for space tourism. According to a press release from the Iraqi News Agency dated 5 December 1989, there was only one test of the Al-Abid space launcher, which Iraq intended to use to develop its own crewed space facilities by the end of the century. These plans were put to an end by the Gulf War of 1991 and the economic hardships that followed. Under the George W. Bush administration,
14640-533: Was reconfigured as the European module of the same name on the International Space Station. Japan ( NASDA ) began the development of the HOPE-X experimental shuttle spaceplane in the 1980s, to be launched on its H-IIA expendable launch vehicle. A string of failures in 1998 led to funding reductions, and the project's cancellation in 2003 in favor of participation in the International Space Station program through
14762-507: Was to visit and study the Sun 's outer corona in August 2018. It was also the Delta IV Heavy with a Star-48BV kick stage, and the highest-ever spacecraft velocity. The company launched the final Delta II rocket, carrying ICESat-2 from Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-2 on 15 September 2018. This marks the last launch of a Delta family rocket based on the original Thor IRBM . On 22 August 2019, ULA launched its last Delta IV Medium rocket for
14884-408: Was under pressure to reduce costs to better compete with SpaceX and its partially reusable rockets, replace its Russian-made RD-180 with more efficient western-made engines, and introduce a next-generation launch vehicle. The company's high cost to launch left the company with few commercial and civil satellite launch customers, and increasingly reliant on U.S. military and spy agency contracts. After
#36963