Spacecraft

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Spacecraft" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on
Spaceflight
History History of spaceflight Space Race Timeline of spaceflight Space probes Lunar missions Mars missions
Applications Communications Earth observation Exploration Espionage Military Navigation Settlement Telescopes Tourism
Spacecraft Robotic spacecraft Satellite Space probe Cargo spacecraft Crewed spacecraft Apollo Lunar Module Space capsules Space Shuttle Space stations Spaceplanes Vostok
Space launch Spaceport Launch pad Expendable and reusable launch vehicles Escape velocity Non-rocket spacelaunch
Spaceflight types Sub-orbital Orbital Interplanetary Interstellar Intergalactic
List of space organizations Space agencies Space forces Companies
Spaceflight portal
v t e

A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed to fly and operate in outer space.^[1] Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle (carrier rocket).

On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters space and then returns to the surface without having gained sufficient energy or velocity to make a full Earth orbit. For orbital spaceflights, spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or around other celestial bodies. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers from start or on orbit (space stations) only, whereas those used for robotic space missions operate either autonomously or telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft used to support scientific research are space probes. Robotic spacecraft that remain in orbit around a planetary body are artificial satellites. To date, only a handful of interstellar probes, such as Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and New Horizons,are on trajectories that leave the Solar System.

Orbital spacecraft may be recoverable or not. Most are not. Recoverable spacecraft may be subdivided by a method of reentry to Earth into non-winged space capsules and winged spaceplanes. Recoverable spacecraft may be reusable (can be launched again or several times, like the SpaceX Dragon and the Space Shuttle orbiters) or expendable (like the Soyuz). In recent years, more space agencies are tending towards reusable spacecraft.

Humanity has achieved space flight, but only a few nations have the technology for orbital launches: Russia (Roscosmos^[2]), the United States (NASA^[3]), the member states of the European Space Agency,^[4] Japan (JAXA^[5]), China (CNSA^[6]), India (ISRO^[7]), Taiwan (TSA^[8][9][10]), Israel (ISA), Iran (ISA), and North Korea (NADA). In addition, several private companies have developed or are developing the technology for orbital launches independently from government agencies. The most prominent examples of such companies are SpaceX and Blue Origin.