Comparison of manned space vehicles

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

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 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 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 1963 6 (12)[note 1]
Shenzhou  China LEO Chang Zheng 2F 3 9.25 2.80 7,840 Solar panels 1,450 2003 Active 5 (5)
Soyuz 7K-OK  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz 3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1967 1970 8 (8)[note 3]
Soyuz 7KT-OK  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz 3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1971 1971 2[note 4]
Soyuz 7K-T  USSR OKB-1 LEO Soyuz
Soyuz-U		 2 7.48 2.72 Batteries 1973 1981 26 (4)[note 5]
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 6]
Soyuz-TM  USSR
 Russia		 RKK Energia LEO Soyuz-U2
Soyuz-U		 3 7.48 2.72 Solar panels 1986 2002 33 (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 13
Soyuz TMA-MS
?		  Russia RKK Energia LEO Soyuz-FG 3 Solar panels 2016
Biconic Space Vehicle  USA Blue Origin LEO Orbital Reusable Booster System
CST-100  USA Boeing LEO multiple, initially Atlas V 7 [1] 5.03 m [2] 4.56 m [2]
Dream Chaser  USA Sierra Nevada Corporation LEO multiple, initially Atlas V 7 [3][4] 9.0 m [5] 11,300 kg [6]
PPTS
?		  Russia RKK Energia LEO Solar panels 2018 or later
Voskhod  USSR OKB-1 LEO Voskhod 3[note 7] 5 2.4 Batteries n/a 1964 1965 2 (3)
Vostok  USSR OKB-1 LEO
first		 Vostok-K 1 4.4 2.43 4,725 Batteries n/a 1961 1963 6 (7)[note 8]
SpaceShipOne  USA Scaled Composites 112 km
X Prize		 White Knight
Hybrid Motor		 3 3,600 2004 2004 3[note 9]
Space Shuttle orbiter  USA United Space Alliance LEO Space Shuttle 8[note 10] 109,000 Fuel cells 1981 2011 135[note 11]
X-15  USA North American Aviation 108 km
altitude		 B-52
Ammonia-LOX		 1 15,420 1963 1963 2[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 2014 or later 0[note 13]
Dragon V2  USA SpaceX LEO Falcon 9 7[note 14] 3.7 Solar Panels 2015 or later 0[note 15]
SpaceShipTwo  USA The Spaceship Company 110 km
Kármán line+10		 White Knight Two
RocketMotorTwo		 8[note 16] 9,740 2014 0[note 17]
* - Format: Manned (Unmanned), includes failures

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Not including Boilerplate tests
  2. ↑ One unmanned launch on Titan IIIC ahead of proposed use in MOL programme
  3. ↑ Manned flights include one fatal in-flight failure; Soyuz 1 lost due to parachute failure upon landing.
  4. ↑ Manned flights include one fatal in-flight failure; Soyuz 11 depressurised during reentry.
  5. ↑ Manned flights include one launch failure - abort during third stage flight, recovered after suborbital flight
  6. ↑ Manned flights include one launch failure (SAS (launch escape system) used ~70 seconds before planned liftoff due to fire on launch pad - crew survived)
  7. ↑ Able to carry three cosmonauts without spacesuits, or two with spacesuits; both combinations flown
  8. ↑ Unmanned flight count includes two launch failures
  9. ↑ Does not include manned atmospheric flights
  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. ↑ Includes two fatal accidents; STS-51-L disintegrated during ascent, STS-107 damaged during ascent, disintegrated during reentry.
  12. ↑ Does not include atmospheric flights, or missions considered spaceflights by the US definition but not the internationally-accepted definition
  13. ↑ Did not include unmanned test around 2014
  14. ↑ Number of seats will probably be a multiple of the 3 crew member rotations for the ISS
  15. ↑ This is SpaceX's advertised Goal. Did not find NASA schedule.
  16. ↑ 2 crew + 6 passengers
  17. ↑ 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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Burghardt, Mike (August 2011). "Boeing CST-100: Commercial Crew Transportation System". 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.