Space Launchers by Countries

Since the beginnings of the space age, varied launchers -a term used since recently to name the rockets used to place satellites in orbit and other space activities- have been designed by the miscellaneous actors of the space conquest. One common characteristic however is that all launchers used mostly have their origin into army ballistic missiles of those varied countries. The sole exception is the European Ariane rocket, which since its inception, was deviced like a civilian rocket only. Maximum launch capability to the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of space agencies worldwide, as of 2018, is: USA at 14 tons, China at 13 tons, Europe, 10.5, Russia, 6.25, and Japan at 8 tons as U.S. private space companies are making great strides to improve their launch capacities

U.S. Launchers USSR and Russian Launchers China Launchers

Europe (ESA) Launchers Other Countries

->A Quick List of the Space Agencies Worldwide!
. for Argentina, the Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales
. for Brazil, the Agencia Espacial Brasileira (AEB)
. for Canada, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
. for China, no unique agency is concerned as the China National Space Administration (CNSA) may be a reference
. for Europe, the European Space Agency (ESA)
. for France, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)
. for Germany, the Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft-und Raumfahrt (DLR)
. for India, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
. for Iran: the Iran Space Agency (ISA)
. for Israel, the Israel Space Agency (ISA)
. for Italy, the Italian Space Agency (ISA)
. for Japan, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
. for North Korea, the National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA)
. for Russia, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos)
. for the USA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

U.S. Launchers

U.S. launchers used today are Atlas, Delta, or Titan as the Space Shuttle is a system of its own. Some other lesser rockets are also used. Due to a lack of reliable domestic alternatives for their rocket systems, the USA turned to that Russia's NPO Energomash began supplying its rockets to them in 1997. The engines were used by the Lockheed Martin Atlas III rocket and its successor, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V. Despite any consideration of relations between the USA and Russia, the RD-180 engines would continue to be used until at least 2024, and possibly until 2028. In addition to the RD-180, Energomash also supplies its RD-181 engines for use aboard the private Antares rocket

a Boeing Delta II rocket launching. picture NASA

• The Atlas line of rockets derived from the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) to come in use in the USA. Atlas launchers served for the first unmanned and manned missions (John Glenn, Mercury program) and developed further into two-stage launchers (like the Atlas-Centaur, a stage of an Atlas missile with a an hydrogen-fueled "Centaur" upper stage, first launching in May 1962). The Atlas used today are the Atlas E (polar, LEO orbits; launching from Vandenberg AFB), Atlas I (low, medium, geosynchronous orbits), and Atlas II (idem; both launch from Cape Canaveral). All of these Atlas are two-staged rockets. First stage is a two booster-sustainer engine one, with vernier stabilization rockets oriented at 45°. The two boosters are jettisoned two minutes into the flight. Propellant: RP1 kerosene (fuel) and liquis oxygen (oxidizer). Lift capability: medium. The Atlas V may sports up to 5 lateral solid boosters as it is available to reach either Earth's orbit or interplanetary trajectories as it may be used for military satellites. The Atlas V-551 launch vehicle is the most powerful Atlas rocket in NASA's inventory and one of the most powerful in the world. Of note is that the Russian government is, by 2010, supplying the USA with rocket engines, even those launching defense satellites, which could hamper the U.S. program. Such U.S. launchers like the workhorse United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket are needing Russian engines as the Delta 4 doesn't
• The (Boeing) Delta succeded to the Thor rocket which were modified Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs) with more stages, upgraded engines and new solid rocket engines. The launch failure of a Thor missile on Jan. 25, 1957 from Cape Canaveral lauch pad 17, provided one of the most memorable images from the developmental days of rocketry as it barely reached six inches above the pad before falling, hitting the flame deflector and exploding. The first Delta -a Thor-Delta– launched on May 13, 1960. The series evolved since into a wide range of launch vehicles, down to the Delta 4 launchers which flew since 2002. 235-foot tall Delta 4 Heavy are made of three boosters, or 'Common Booster Core' arranged in line as it built by the United Launch Alliance, making its first flight in 2004 and capable of up to 24 tons into low-Earth orbit and 11 tons to geosynchronous orbits. The Delta 4 is reaching a speed of 9500 mph a few minutes into its launch. Delta may launch from Vandenberg AFB or from Cape Canaveral. Delta are multi-stage launchers. Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) may be strapped further to the first stage. Propellant: liquid fuel and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) for the first stage; liquids propellants for the upper stages. A Delta-2, for example, is capable of a 200,000-lbs thrust with a speed of 15,000 mph during the ascent phase. Lift capability: heavy
• Titan are Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) . The Titan I was replaced by the Titan II in 1962. The Titan were the rockets of the Gemini program as the Titan missiles were the silo-missiles of the continental USA. The line of Titan launchers was used back and improved after the Shuttle Challenger explosion. The Titan III (launching from Cape Canaveral), Titan 34D (idem), and Titan I (launching from Vandenberg) come each with various upper stages and SRBs strapped on the first stage, as the Titan IV -which stopped to be used since 2005- with its 39,000 lbs (17,700 kg) capability was NASA's heavy lifter, as it was able to launch from Vandenberg AFB or from Cape Canaveral. A advanced Centaur was forecast to fly with the Space Shuttle as the Challenger tragedy by 1986 cancelled the program which turned the advanced upper stage for the new Titan IV booster. The G-Prime Centaur thus survived, flying 16 missions. The Cassini mission launch by 1997 was the culmination of nearly a 40-year period of NASA Glenn overseeing Centaur missions, during which the upper stage became the agency’s exploration workhorse
• The Space Shuttle is a reusable launch vehicle. It comprises an Orbiter pushing at launch with its three cryogenic engines, a large external tank, and two SRBs. The Shuttle engines are cryogenic liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Two minutes after liftoff at about 27 miles (43 km) of altitude, both SRBs parachute into the Atlantic Ocean to be retrieved and reused. The Shuttle keeps on with its main engine until the main external tank is jettisoned over the Indian Ocean. The orbital insertion is completed through the orbital maneuvering system (two engines using hypergolic liquid fuel and oxidizer). The Shuttle is NASA's other heavy lifter. It serves to release-retrieve satellites into-from orbits, to repair defective ones, and to make adjustments to craft orbits. The Shuttle is launching from the former Saturn V launch pads at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). 4 landing runways have been constructed at Edwards AFB, White Sands, Vandenberg AFB, and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) -the latter is the preferred one
• The U.S. space programs also uses Scout rockets for light satellites. Scouts are solid fuel, multi-stage launchers. They launch from Vandenberd AFB and Wallops Island, beginning to be used since July 1960. Small payloads are also now put into orbit through the private, Orbital Sciences firm Pegasus rocket, which launches from under the wing of an aircraft at an altitude of 40,000 ft. Pegasus are three-stage rockets (after a free fall of about 5 seconds, the first stage motor fires and accelerates the rocket to over 5,000 miles per hour (8,000 km/h) and it burns out. The vehicle briefly coasts before igniting its second stage rocket at the 97-second mark. Nearly 10 minutes later, the Pegasus has exhausted its stage two and three motors and reached a top speed of nearly 17,000 mph (27,300 km/h) and climbed to an altitude of 460 miles (740 km). After that, the spacecraft separates from the Pegasus and glides off to begin its mission). That company also manufactures a Taurus XL launcher, a four-stage, solid-fueled rocket and a quite young rocket in terms of experience. The 69-foot-long, 5-foot wide, 35-ton, four-stage Minotaur I, further, is used for orbital launches at it combines features of a Minuteman missile and of a Pegasus rocket, and is merging technologies allowing for both military and commercial launches
• Suborbital rockets, also called sounding rockets, are valuable tools (used by numerous countries) for cheap science experiments or in qualifying technologies for flight and providing the test drive that is needed

click to a comparative view of all NASA expandable launch vehicles, with the Space Shuttle. picture NASA

USSR and Russia Launchers

USSR had an impressive array of launchers, all derived from ICBMs. Russia is the successor to the USSR. In August 2014 Russia successfully launched the maiden flight of its new, two-stage 'Angara' rocket, the first rocket built from scratch since the fall of the USSR. It runs based on 'ecologically clean' oxygen and kerosene. The Angara series includes a modular range of light, medium and heavy launchers. The Angara also is aiming to that Russia turns independent from Kazakstan in terms of launch complex as the Angara will be able to launch from its own launch bases. The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow are responsible for the new rocket as they also build the Proton. The Angara series might well determine the future of the Russian space program

a European ESA mission launching atop a Russian Dnepr rocket provided by 'International Space Company Kosmotras', from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazahstan in 2010. picture ESA

• The Vostok rocket was derived from the SS6 Sapwood ICBM and served for Sputnik I and Yuri Gagarin's flight. It's a two-stage rocket with a strapped boosters-core engine, first stage (20 engines total). The Vostok launch from Plesetsk and Baikonur. It's still in use today. Propellant: kerosene (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) for the two stages. Lift capability: heavy
• The Soyuz is an upgraded Vostok starting in 1963. It was and still is the USSR space programs workhorse. It launches from Plesetsk and Baikonur. It's still in use today as the Soyuz-2 is a upgraded version of it. The Soyuz-U rocket, known for carrying equipment and cosmonauts into space proved to be one of the Soviet and Russian space industry's most reliable launch platforms. The Soyuz-ST is a version of the three-stage Soyuz-2 rocket with a Fregat booster, adapted for launches in high heat and humidity climate
• The Molniya (from the communication satellite Molnyia it launched) is an upgraded version still. It flew the Venera 1 probe and maybe 2 attempts at Mars in 1960. It launches mainly from Plesetsk. It's still in use today
• The Energia is the flown largest Russian rocket ever and Russian heavy lifter with capabilities up to 440,000 lbs (200,000 kg). It was developed during USSR last decade and was using the first ever dual cryogenic Russian main stage
• The Cosmos (SL8, nitric acid and Unsymetrical DimethylHydrazine (UDMH)), the Proton (with a 4-stages variant), the 2-stage Tsyklon have been or still are Russian launchers as the Zenit was developed in 1985. The Proton launcher is used for commercial launches and is the concurrent to ESA Ariane 5. The USSR also developed a shuttlelike ship, the "Buran" where the external fuel tank had been replaced with an Energia rocket as the orbiter did not have any engines
• The Dnepr rocket is a converted SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile. Dnepr is a three-stage launcher with a length of 113 ft (34 m) and a diameter of 10 ft (3 m). At takeoff, the rocket's mass is of 211 metric tons. That launcher is used too by the 'International Space Company Kosmotras'
• The Angara family of launch vehicles have been developed from scratch and not inherited from the USSR. Composite materials and plastic reduce the weight as the rocket uses environment-friendly oxygen-kerosene engines as the new launchers will be able to bring 2 to 40.5 metric tons into low Earth orbit. The Angara rocket will be using the RD-191 engine, considered like one of the best in the world
• The Proton M since 2001 is the largest launch vehicle in Russia's fleet. It was first commissioned in 2001. The Proton-M is heavy-lift launch vehicle based on the Soviet-era Proton rocket, and built by the Khurnichev State Research and Production Space Center. They typically launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver satellites and other cargoes into space

China Launchers

Chinese launchers all derive from strategic IRBM or ICBM missiles. The line of launch vehicles works on a same first and second stages (all hypergolic fuels and oxidizers like UDMH and nitrogen tetroxide) as the upper stage varies to provide specific performances. All launchers bear the name "Chang Zehn" ("Long March") with CZ denoting the variant. The maximum payload by a Chinese launcher is of 9,900 lbs (4,500 kg) in a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). By the end of 2008, 113 rockets of the Long March series had been launched. China is pursuing a new launcher in collaboration with Brazil

• The Long March 1 (Changzheng, or CZ-1) placed the first Chinese satellite in orbit in 1970
• The Long March 2 (CZ-2) has replaced the previous and is available in a wide range configurations. A Long March II-F version has been developed since 1992 as a Long March II-D launcher exists too
• The Long March 3 (CZ-3) is an improved version of the previous as the Long March 4 (CZ-4) is an improved version still
• The Long March 3B launcher is of the same family than the Long March 3A; it's the most powerful Chinese launcher up to day as it can send 5.1 tons in a geosynchronous orbit. The Long March 5, next generation rochets, using pollution-free fuels launched in November 2016 , being able to launch 14 tons into the geosynchronous orbit
• By June 2016, China blasted its new Long March-7 launch rocket. The Long March-7 is to become the next main Chinese launcher as it is a 177-foot, 1,130-ton, medium-sized, two-stage rocket that can carry up to 13.5 tons to low-Earth orbit (LEO). It is using kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel, rather than the highly toxic propellant

China, generally is planning to upgrade the payload capacity of its Long March series launchers, to increase it from 9.5 to 25 tons, as a part of its move to reach Moon. A Long Marc 3C rocket is used for launching the Chang'e lunar orbiters. The Kuaizhou 1A, a solid-fuel carrier rocket has a liftoff weight of 30 metric tons and is capable of sending a 200-kilogram payload into a Sun-synchronous orbit, or a 300-kg payload into a low-Earth orbit. Unlike most Chinese carrier rockets, it uses a transporter-erector-launch vehicle for liftoff rather than a fixed launchpad

Europe (ESA) Launchers

A ESA Ariane 5 Rocket Transferred to Launch Pad at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. picture ESA/Stephane Corvaja

The Ariane series of launchers has no military roots and was devised from the origin as a commercial launcher. The series developed in less than 5 years from Ariane 1 to Ariane 3 as Ariane 4 is a three-staged, straped boosters-capable, flexible launcher able to put 22,000 lbs (10,000 kg) into orbit. Ariane 5 is the last, heavy lift, version of the series. It's a Titan IV class, straped boosters-capable rocket, able to lift 50,600 lbs (23,000 kg) in orbit. Since the Kourou spaceport, on a other hand, was fitted out to accommodate Russian rockets, that males that ESA since 2011 has now three types of launchers at its disposal. Ariane launchers are used for heavy, Soyuz ST-B for medium and Vega for light lift respectively. The Arianespace corporate might lie into a kind of rivalry to the ESA proper and the European Central Bank playing a role. Scheduled by mid-2019, new elements will increase the Vega's performance as after that, a consolidated Vega, the Vega-C should fly by late 2019 to carry larger, heavier payloads up to 2,300 kg with the new first and second stage motors, the P120C and Zefiro-40 respectively. Vega-C’s enhanced liquid-fuelled fourth stage with improved avionics, greater capacity and main engine reignition capability will give more flexibility for multi-payload missions

. check more data about the Ariane launchers series!

Other Countries

Japan first licensed U.S. N1 and N2, Delta class launchers. It developed then the N2 into the H1, which bears a Japanese LE5 upper stage and an inertial guidance system, and may be added with 6 or 9 straped boosters. The next version is a all liquid, Japanese built, reliable Titan III-class H2 series. A H2-B version was used in 2009 for the first flight of the HTV-1 cargo vehicle to the ISS. Japan uses too the home-built M-3SII launcher which is a planetary probe-able, all solid-fuel, 4-stage, straped boosters capable rocket. By September 2013 Japan launched a new, three-stage, 80-foot tall rocket, the Epsilon rocket from the Uchinoura Space Center, like a cheaper and more efficient way of sending satellites at one third the cost and half the size of a H2A. The new rocket can be readied in just one week as it uses a solid-fuel propellant. The rocket's extensive use of new technologies, with a advanced board computer, allows a single laptop to control instead of a full-staffed control room

Israel is using the Shavit launcher which is thought to be derived from the Jericho 2 missile. It's an all solid propellant, Scout class launcher. Israel is trying to reach the geosynchronous orbit

India is aiming at its own launchers with the 5-stage, solid propellant Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which is a straped boosters-capable launch vehicle designed for sun-synchronous orbits. The Indian, Chandrayaan-1, lunar mission, which launched in October 2008, was by a 158,000-lbs, PSLV-C11 launcher. As far as India is aiming to a manned spaceflight by 2015, it's developing a modified version of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 2 (GSLV Mark 2), featuring an indigenous cryogenic upper-stage engine (the currently used Mark 1 is using a Russian upper stage engine) as it's scheduled to be tested in 2009. ISRO’s, generally, workhorse rocket is the low-power Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), designed for putting satellites into low Earth orbit. ISRO has been working for more than a decade and a half on the more powerful Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle, but the rocket failed in series and could successfully performed a launch by early 2014 only