Launch vehicles
Section directed by Jean-Jacques Serra| A: | Ares | Ariane | ASLV | Athena | Atlas | ||
| B: | Black Arrow | ||||||
| C: | Cyclone | Conestoga | Cosmos B | Cosmos C | |||
| D: | Delta | Diamant | Dnepr | ||||
| H: | H1 & H2 | ||||||
| I: | ISAS vehicles | ISRO vehicles | |||||
| K: | KSLV | ||||||
| L: | Long March | ||||||
| M: | Minotaur | Molniya | Mu | ||||
| N: | N1 & N2 | NASDA vehicles | |||||
| P: | Pegasus | Proton | PSLV | ||||
| R: | Rokot | ||||||
| S: | Safir | Scout | Semiorka | Shavit | Shtil | SLV 3 | Soyuz |
| Start | STS | ||||||
| T: | Taurus | Thor | Titan | ||||
| V: | Vanguard | VLS | |||||
| Z: | Zenit |
World Launch Vehicle Overview
| Vehicle | First launch | LEO capacity (kg) | GTO capacity (kg) | Comments |
| CIS (Sheldon / DoD) | Detailed soviet chart here | |||
| Semiorka (A / SL1) | 4 Oct 1957 | 1300 | 2-stage (--> 1958) | |
| Luna (A1 / SL2) |
(Aug
1958) 2 Jan 1959 | 3-stage (--> 1960) | ||
| Vostok (A1 / SL3) | 15 May 1960 | 4700 | 3-stage | |
| Molniya (A2e / SL6) |
(10
Oct 1960) 4 Feb 1961 | 1600 (THEO) | 4-stage, Molniya or Prognoz orbit | |
| Cosmos B (B1 / SL7) | 16 Mar 1962 | 450 | 2-stage (--> 1977), 144 launches | |
| Voskhod (A2 / SL4) | 16 Nov 1963 | 5500 | 3-stage | |
| Cosmos C (C1 / SL8) | 18 Aug 1964 | 1400 | 2-stage | |
| Proton (D / SL9) | 16 Jul 1965 | 12500 | 2-stage (--> 1968) | |
| Cosmos (F1r / SL11) | 17 Sep 1966 | 2-stage (--> 1971) | ||
| Soyuz (A2 / SL4) | 28 Nov 1966 | 7500 | 3-stage | |
| Soyuz ST | late 2005 | 3200 | from Kourou | |
| Proton (D1e / SL12) | 10 Mar 1967 | 4400 (GEO) | 4-stage | |
| Cyclone 2 (F1m / SL11) | 27 Oct 1967 | 4000 | 2-stage | |
| N1 (G / SL15?) | (21 Feb 1969) | Lunar vehicle launcher | ||
| Proton (D1 / SL13) | 16 Nov 1968 | 20000 | 3-stage | |
| Cyclone 3 (F2 / SL14) | 24 Jun 1977 | 5500 | 3-stage | |
| Zenit (J1 / SL16) | 21 Jun 1985 | 15000 | 2-stage | |
| Energia (K1 / SL17) | 15 May 1987 | 140000 | 18000 (GEO) | shuttle, 2 successful flights |
| Start | 25 Mar 1993 | 500 | 5-stage | |
| Rokot | 26 Dec 1994 | 1850 | 3-stage (RS18K) | |
| Shtil | 7 Jul 1998 | 430 kg | 3-stage, converted R-29RM (RSM-54), submarine launch | |
| Dnepr | 21 Apr 1999 | 3000 | 2-stage, converted SS-18 (R36-M2 / 15A18M) | |
| Proton M + Briz M | 7 Apr 2001 | 21000 | 5500 (GTO) | |
| Strela | 5 Dec 2003 | 1700 | modified RS-18 | |
| Soyuz 2 | 19 Oct 2006 | 7480 | ||
| Angara 1 | 2013 | Briz KM or Bloc 1 top stage. To replace Cosmos 3 and Cyclone 3 launchers | ||
| Angara 3 | 2013 | Briz M top stage / launch from Plesetsk | ||
| Cyclone 2K | 2006 | 2000 |
modernised
version of
Cyclone 2
http://www.unitedstart.com/Tsyklon2/ | |
| Angara 4E | ? | heavy launcher / launch from Plesetsk | ||
| Aurora | ? | launch from Christmas Island | ||
| Cyclone 4 | 2006 | 5500 | 1800 | Cyclone 3 with a Fregat upper stage. Launch from Alcantara |
| Zenit 2 | Launch from Tyuratam | |||
| Soyuz STK | late-2011 | Soyuz to be launched from Kourou | ||
| Soyuz 1 (aka 2-1V) | 2012? | 2850 | NK-33-1 core motor, no strap-ons | |
| United States | ||||
| Vanguard |
(6
Dec1957) 17 Mar 1958 | 25 | 3-stage (--> 1959), 3 successful flights | |
| Juno 1 | 31 Jan 1958 | 40 | 4-stage (--> 1959) | |
| Thor Able |
(17
Aug 1958) 11 Oct 1958 | 200 | 3-stage (--> Thor Delta) | |
| Juno 2 | 6 Dec 1958 | 50 | 4-stage (--> 1961) | |
| Atlas | 18 Dec 1958 | 1300 | Mercury launcher | |
| Thor Agena | 28 Feb 1959 | 1000 | 2-stage (--> LTT Agena) | |
| Atlas Able | (26 Nov 1959) | 3-stage (--> 1960) | ||
| Atlas Agena |
(26
Feb 1960) 24 May 1960 | 2300 | 2-stage (--> 1978) | |
| Thor Ablestar | 13 Apr 1960 | 2-stage (--> 1965) | ||
| Thor Delta |
(13
May 1960) 18 Aug 1960 | 3-stage, (--> Delta) | ||
| Scout |
(4
Dec 1960) 16 Feb 1961 | 4-stage (--> 1994) | ||
| Atlas Centaur |
(8
May 1962) 16 Feb 1961 | 5600 | 2250 | 4-stage (--> Atlas 2) |
| Saturn 1 | 29 Jan 1964 | 6800 | 2/3-stage (--> 1965) | |
| Titan 2 | 08 Apr 1964 | 3500 | Gemini launcher | |
| Titan 3A |
(01
Sep 1964) 10 Dec 1964 | 3-stage (--> 1965) | ||
| Titan 3C | 18 Jun 1965 | 11300 | 4500 | 3-stage + boosters (--> Titan 34D) |
| Saturn 1B | 05 Jul 1966 | 12900 | Apollo launcher | |
| Titan 3B | 29 Jul 1966 | 3500 | 700 (THEO) | 3-stage (--> Titan 34B) |
| LTTAT Agena | 09 Aug 1966 | 2000 | 2-stage (--> 1972) | |
| Saturn 5 | 09 Nov 1967 | 140000 | Lunar vehicle launcher | |
| Titan 3D | 15 Jun 1971 | 13000 | 3-stage + boosters (--> Titan 34D) | |
| Delta 29xx | 09 Nov 1972 | 2000 | 720 | 2/3-stage (--> Delta 39xx) |
| Delta 39xx | 13 Dec 1975 | 1250 | 2/3 stage (--> Delta 2) | |
| STS | 12 Apr 1981 | 24200 | 5900 (with IUS) | Space Shuttle |
| Titan 34D | 30 Oct 1982 | 15800 | 1900 | 2/3-stage + boosters (--> Titan 4) |
| Delta-2 69xx | 14 Feb 1989 | 4000 | 1400 | Interim Delta 2 |
| Titan 4 | 14 Jun 1989 | 17700 | 5500 | 2/3-stage + boosters |
| Pegasus | 5 Apr 1990 | 400 | air launched rocket | |
| Delta-2 79xx | 26 Nov 1990 | 5000 | 1610 | |
| Atlas 2 | 7 Dec 1991 | 6400 | 2700 | 2-stage |
| Atlas 2A | 10 Jun 1992 | 6800 | 2900 | 2-stage |
| Atlas 2AS | 16 Dec 1993 | 8400 | 3600 | 2-stage + boosters |
| Taurus | 13 Mar 1994 | 1400 | 4-stage | |
| Taurus 2 | 2012? | |||
| Pegasus XL |
(27
Jun 1994) 9 Mar 1996 | 455 | air launched rocket | |
| Athena 1 |
(15
Aug 1995) 23 Aug 1997 | 1000 | 3-stage | |
| Athena 2 | 7 Jan 1998 | 3-stage | ||
| Conestoga | (23 Oct 1995) | 2100 | 4-stage | |
| Zenit Sea Launch | 28 Mar 1996 | 3-stage | ||
| Titan 4B | 23 Feb 1997 | 22000 | ? | 4-stage |
| Delta 3 |
(27
Aug 1998) 23 Aug 2000 | 8346 | 3810 | |
| Sea Launch | 28 Mar 1999 | 5400 | ||
| Minotaur | 27 Jan 2000 | 550 | 440 kg in polar orbit | |
| Atlas 3A | 24 May 2000 | 4200 | it uses the russian RD180 engines on the first stage | |
| Atlas 3B | 21 Feb 2002 | 4500 | ||
| Kister 1 | 2000? | 500 kg | ||
| Delta-4 | 20 Nov 2002 | 4200 to 13100 kg | ||
| Atlas 5 401/402 | 21 Aug 2002 | 12500 kg | 4950 kg | |
| Atlas 5 431 | n/a | 7640 kg | ||
| Atlas 5 501/502 | 10300 kg | 3970 kg | ||
| Atlas 5 551/552 | 20520 kg | 8670 kg | ||
| Delta 4 Heavy | 13000 | |||
| Falcon 1 | (24 Mar 2006) | |||
| Zenit Land Sea Launch | 2007 | 3-stage | ||
| Falcon 5 | ? | engine redundancy, all stages are designed for reuse | ||
| Falcon 9 | 4 Jun 2010 | 12500 | 4640 |
should
cost $27 million max for launch! Launch from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral |
| Falcon 9 Heavy | 2014? | 53000 | ||
| Ares I-X | 2009 | |||
| Virgin Galactic LauncherOne | 2016 | 225 kg |
2-stage should cost $10 million per launch | |
| France | ||||
| Diamant A | 26 Nov 1965 | 80 | 3-stage (--> 1967) | |
| Diamant B | 10 Mar 1970 | 115 | 3-stage (--> 1973) | |
| Diamant BP4 | 6 Feb 1975 | 150 | 3-stage (--> 1975) | |
| Japan | ||||
| Lambda-4S |
(26
Sep 1966) 11 Feb 1970 | 20 | 4-stage, 1 successful flight | |
| Mu-4S |
(25
Sep 1970) 16 Feb 1971 | 75 | 3-stage (--> 1972) | |
| Mu-3C | 16 Feb 1974 | 85 | 3-stage (--> 1976) | |
| N1 | 9 Sep 1975 | 3-stage (--> 1982) | ||
| Mu-3H | 19 Feb 1977 | 100 | 3-stage (--> 1979) | |
| Mu-3S1 | 17 Feb 1981 | 200 | 3-stage (--> 1984) | |
| N2 | 11 Feb 1981 | 350 | 3-stage (--> 1987) | |
| Mu-3S2 | 8 Jan 1985 | 400 | ||
| H1 | 13 Aug 1986 | 3200 | 1100 | 3-stage (--> 1995) |
| H2 | 3 Feb 1994 | 10500 | 4000 (2000 to GEO) | 2-stage + boosters |
| Mu 5 | 12 Feb 1997 | 1800 | solid 3-stage. worth $60 million | |
| J1 | cancelled | 870 |
solid
3-stage consist of H2 strap-on first stage + 2 stages of Mu-3S2 | |
| H2A202 | 29 Aug 2001 | 4000 | $71 million | |
| H2A2022 | ? | 4250 | 2 little boosters | |
| H2A2024 | 4 Feb 2002 | 4600 | 4 little boosters | |
| H2A mod | ? | 6000 | 2 additional main engines | |
| H2A212 | 2008? | 18000 | 7500 | H2A202 heavy version with a lateral body |
| H2A222 | ? | 23000 | 9500 | 2 lateral bodies |
| H2B | 10 Sep 2009 | 16500 | 8000 | 2 engines on the main body and 4 boosters |
| China | ||||
| Long March 1D | no launches? | 1000 | liquid/solid 3-stage | |
| Long March 1 |
(01
Nov 1969) 24 Apr 1970 | 3-stage (--> 1971) | ||
| Long March 2A | (05 Nov 1974) | No successful flight | ||
| FB 1 | 10 Aug 1972 | 2-stage (LEO) (--> 1981) | ||
| Long March 2C | 26 Nov 1975 | 2500 | 1000 + PKM |
liquid
2-stage 14 success |
| Long March 3 | 29 Jan 1984 | 5000 | 1400 | liquid 3-stage |
| Long March 4 | 6 Sep 1988 | 4000 | 1550 | liquid 3-stage |
| Long March 2E | 16 Jul 1990 | 9200 | 3370 with PKM | liquid 2-stage + 4 liquid strap-ons |
| Long March 2D | 9 Aug 1992 | 3300 | liquid 2-stage | |
| Long March 3A | 8 Feb 1994 | 7200 | 2500 | liquid 2-stage |
| Long March 3B |
(14
Feb 1996) 19 Aug 1997 | 4800 |
liquid
3-stage + 4 liquid strap-ons consist of Long March 3A with 4 2E strap-ons | |
| Long March 3C | 28 Oct 2006 | 3800 |
liquid
3-stage + 2 liquid strap-ons consist of Long March 3A with 2 2E strap-ons | |
| Long March 4C | 11 Nov 2007 | |||
| Long March 4B 8S | exp. 2001 | 7800 | 2670 | liquid 3-stage + 8 strap-ons |
| KT 1 | (15 Sep 2002) | 100 | 4-stage | |
| Long March 5 | exp 2014 | 25000 | 14000 | |
| Long March 6 | 1000 kg to sun-synchronous orbit, high-speed response | |||
| Long March 7 | 13500 | 5500 kg to sun-synchronous orbit | ||
| United Kingdom | ||||
| Black Arrow |
(1
Sep 1970) 28 Oct 1971 |
3-stage One successful flight | ||
| Europe | ||||
| Europa 1 F8 | (30 Nov 1968) | No successful flight | ||
| Europa 2 | (05 Nov 1971) | No successful flight | ||
| Ariane 1 | 24 Dec 1979 | 1700 | 3-stage (--> 1986) | |
| Ariane 3 | 4 Aug 1984 | 2580 | 3-stage + boosters | |
| Ariane 2 | 30 May 1986 | 2065 | 3-stage | |
| Ariane 4, 44LP | 15 Jun 1988 | 8300 | 4030 | |
| Ariane 4, 44L | 4 Jun 1989 | 9600 | 4460 | |
| Ariane 4, 40 | 22 Jan 1990 | 4900 | 2020 | 3-stage |
| Ariane 4, 42P | 20 Nov 1990 | 6100 | 2740 | |
| Ariane 4, 44P | 4 Apr 1991 | 6900 | 3290 | |
| Ariane 4, 42L | 12 May 1993 | 7400 | 3350 | |
| Ariane 5 |
(4 Jun 1996)
30 Oct 1997 | 18000 | 6800 | liquid 2-stage + 2 solid strap-ons |
| Vega | 2012 | 2000 | from Kourou ELA1 | |
| Ariane 6 | 2025? | |||
| India | ||||
| SLV 3 |
(10
Aug 1979) 18 Jul 1980 | 40 | 4-stage (--> 1983) | |
| ASLV |
(24
Mar 1987) 20 May 1992 | 150 | solid 4-stage + 2 solid strap-ons (--> 1994) | |
| PSLV |
(20
Sep 1993) 15 Oct 1994 | 3000 | solid/liquid 4-stage + 2 solid strap-ons | |
| GSLV | 18 Apr 2001 | 8000 | 2500 | |
| GSLV 2 | 2003? | 3500 | ||
| GSLV 3 | 2007? | 4000 | 3-stage | |
| Israel | ||||
| Shavit | 19 Sep 1988 | 150 | solid 3-stage | |
| Brazil | ||||
| VLS | (2 Nov 1997) | 350 | Next launch planned in 2006 | |
| Ukraine | ||||
| Cyclone 4 | planned in 2006 |
to
be launched from Alcantara, Brasil Similar to A Cyclone 3 with an additional Fregat upper stage | ||
| South Korea | ||||
| KSLV 1 |
(25 Aug 2009) 30 Jan 2013 | 100 | n/a |
Two-stage rocket, first stage based on Angara. Launch from Naro Space Center on Oenaro Island. |
| Iran | ||||
| Safir |
(17
Aug 2008) 02 Feb 2009 | Two-stage | ||
| North Korea | ||||
| Unha 2 | (Apr 2009) | 100? | ||
| Unha 3 |
(Apr
2012) 12 Dec 2012 | 150? |
This document is part of The Satellite Encyclopedia, © Tag's Broadcasting Services, all rights reserved, NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED. Please notify any errors, omissions, etc.
V0.100 - Converted on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:33:52 GMT - Updated quarterly
V0.100 - Converted on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:33:52 GMT - Updated quarterly