Spacecraft

Spacecraft is a generic term used to describe all vehicles that are designed to fly in space. Normally this would apply to vehicles that reach orbit. However, spacecraft is also used to describe vehicles that reach space, normally defined as 100,000 meters altitude, on a sub-orbital flight.

A satellite is an object that orbits the earth, or other space body. A satellite can either be natural (e.g. a moon) or artificial. Artifical satellites can either be manned or unmanned.

Classes of Spacecraft

Manned Spacecraft

Orbital (Satellites)

• Apollo
• Gemini
• ISS - International Space Station
• Mercury
• Mir
• Salyut
• Skylab
• Soyuz
• Soyuz-TM
• Space Shuttle
• Vostok
• Voskhod

Sub-orbital (Ballistic)

• SpaceShipOne
• X-15

Earth Orbit Satellites

• Anik
• Arabsat
• Astra
• Aussat
• BSB – British Satellite Broadcasting
• Cosmos
• Direct-TV
• Discover
• ECS – European Communications Satellite
• Echo
• Explorer 1
• Faisat
• GOES - Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite program
• HST – Hubble Space Telescope
• Ikonos
• Insat
• Intelsat-2
• Intelsat-3
• Intelsat-4
• Intelsat-5
• Intelsat-6
• Intelsat-7
• Landsat
• Leasat
• Marecs
• Meteosat
• Milstar
• Morellos
• Nimbus
• Ofeq
• OGO – Orbiting Geophysical Observatory
• Olympus
• Oscar
• OSO – Orbiting Solar Observatory
• OTS-2 – Orbital Test satellite
• Pageos
• Palapa
• Polyot
• Polyus
• Prospero X-4
• Rocsat
• SBS – Satellite Business Systems
• SCORE
• SEDS
• Sirius Satellite Radio
• Skipper
• Skynet-1
• Skynet-2
• Skynet-3
• Skynet-4
• SPOT - Satellite Pour Observation de la Terre
• Sputnik - first artificial satellite (1957)
• Symphonie
• Syncom
• Telstar
• UHF Follow On
• Uhuru
• UK X-4
• Vanguard
• Worldspace
• Wresat
• XM Satellite Radio

Lunar Probes

• Clementine
• Lunar Prospector
• Luna
• Lunar Orbiter
• Pioneer
• Ranger
• Surveyor

Interplanetary Probes

• Deep Space-1
• GALEX
• ICE - International Comet Explorer
• ISEE - International Sun-Earth Explorer
• Pioneer-4
• Pioneer-5
• Pioneer-6
• Pioneer-7
• Pioneer-8
• Shoemaker - aka NEAR - Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous
• Stardust
• Ulysses - aka ISPM (International Solar Polar Mission)

Mars

• Mariner-4
• Mariner-6
• Mariner-7
• Mariner-9
• Mars
• Mars Express
• Mars Pathfinder
• Mars Sojourner
• Phobos
• Spirit rover
• Opportunity rover
• Viking 1

Mercury

• Mariner-10 - via Venus

Saturn

• Cassini–Huygens
• Pioneer-10 - via Jupiter
• Pioneer-11 - via Jupiter
• Voyager 1 - via Jupiter

Halley's Comet

• Giotto
• Vega

Jupiter

• Galileo Probe

Venus

• Mariner-2
• Pioneer-Venus
• Venera

Outer Planets

• Voyager 2 - Uranus and Neptune via Jupiter and Saturn

Sounding Rockets

• Aerobee
• Black Brandt
• Black Knight
• Bumper
• Skylark
• Vertikal
• V-2 - first spacecraft (1944), initially a military weapon, later used as sounding rocket.

Spacecraft in Literature & Art

• Bellerophon - Colonist ship named in Forbidden Planet
• Starship Enterprise - Inter-stellar ship from the Star Trek series.
• Serenity - Inter-stellar ship from the Firefly television series.

External Links

See also

• NewSpace