List of private spaceflight companies
Propulsion manufacturers
Table:
Company name

Engine

Engine type

Applications

Status

Ref

Accion Systems Inc.

MAX-1, TILE

electrospray ion

small satellite/CubeSat

Development

[154][155]

Ad Astra Rocket Company

VASIMR

plasma propulsion

space tug/orbital transfer vehicle

Development

[156]

ARCA

Executor

LOX/RP-1

IAR 111, Haas 2, Haas 2b, Super Haas

Development

Blue Origin

BE-3

LH2/LOX

New Shepard

Operational

Blue Origin

BE-4

LOX/CH
4

Vulcan, New Glenn

Development

CU Aerospace

PUC

microcavity discharge

small satellite/CubeSat

Development

[157][158]

CU Aerospace

CHIPS

resistojet

small satellite/CubeSat

Development

[158][159]

CU Aerospace

PPT-11

pulsed plasma

small satellite/CubeSat

Development

[160][161]

Reaction Engines Ltd.

SABRE

hybrid air-breathing/chemical

Skylon

Development

[162]

SpaceDev

RocketMotorOne

hybrid

SpaceShipOne

Retired

[163]

SpaceX

Kestrel

LOX/RP-1

Falcon 1 second stage

Retired

SpaceX

Merlin

LOX/RP-1

Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy first stage/boosters

Operational

[164][165][108]

SpaceX

Merlin Vacuum

LOX/RP-1

Falcon 9 second stage, Falcon Heavy second stage

Operational

[165][108]

SpaceX

Raptor

LOX/CH
4

SpaceX Mars transportation infrastructure

Testing

[166]

TGV Rockets

RT30

LOX/JP-8

Michelle B

Development

[167][168]

Virgin Galactic

RocketMotorTwo

hybrid

SpaceShipTwo

Development

Using the accompanying table as well as the background passages provided at the end.

Answer the following question: The satellite made up of multiples of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm cubic units is currently being developed with how many engine types ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

A colloid thruster ( or electrospray thruster ) is a type of low thrust electric propulsion rocket engine that uses electrostatic acceleration of charged liquid droplets for propulsion . In a colloid thruster , charged liquid droplets are produced by an electrospray process and then accelerated by a static electric field . The liquid used for this application tends to be a low-volatility ionic liquid . Like other ion thrusters , its benefits include high efficiency , thrust density , and specific impulse ; however it has very low total thrust , on the order of micronewtons . It provides very fine attitude control or efficient acceleration of small spacecraft over long periods of time .
A small satellite , miniaturized satellite , or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size , usually under 500 kg ( 1,100 lb ) . While all such satellites can be referred to as small , different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass . Satellites can be built small to reduce the large economic cost of launch vehicles and the costs associated with construction . Miniature satellites , especially in large numbers , may be more useful than fewer , larger ones for some purposes - for example , gathering of scientific data and radio relay . Technical challenges in the construction of small satellites may include the lack of sufficient power storage or of room for a propulsion system .
A CubeSat ( U-class spacecraft ) is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that is made up of multiples of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm cubic units . CubeSats have a mass of no more than 1.33 kilograms ( 2.9 lb ) per unit , and often use commercial off-the-shelf ( COTS ) components for their electronics and structure . CubeSats are commonly put in orbit by deployers on the International Space Station , or launched as secondary payloads on a launch vehicle . More than 1200 CubeSats have been launched as of January 2020 . More than 1100 have been successfully deployed in orbit and more than 80 have been destroyed in launch failures . In 1999 , California Polytechnic State University ( Cal Poly ) and Stanford University developed the CubeSat specifications to promote and develop the skills necessary for the design , manufacture , and testing of small satellites intended for low Earth orbit ( LEO ) that perform a number of scientific research functions and explore new space technologies . Academia accounted for the majority of CubeSat launches until 2013 , when more than half of launches were for non-academic purposes , and by 2014 most newly deployed CubeSats were for commercial or amateur projects .
The Ad Astra Rocket Company is an American rocket propulsion company dedicated to the development of advanced plasma rocket propulsion technology . Located in Webster , Texas , three miles away from NASA 's Johnson Space Center , the company was incorporated on January 14 , 2005 . The President and CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company is retired astronaut , Dr. Franklin Chang Díaz . The company has been working on Chang Díaz 's concept of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket , known by its acronym VASIMR . The VASIMR is intended to achieve several advantages over current chemical rocket designs , including lunar cargo transport , in-space refueling , and ultra-high speeds for distant space missions . The Ad Astra Rocket Company Costa Rica ( AARC CR ) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ad Astra Rocket Company . AARC CR was formed in 2005 . The facility is located approximately 10 km west of the city of Liberia , capital of the province of Guanacaste , on the campus of EARTH University . On December 13 , 2006 , the Costa Rican team of AARC generated its first plasma . After extensive testing of a 200 kW ground-test VASIMR unit , the company is aiming for a three-year flight test mission . In March 2015 , NASA selected Ad Astra for the NextSTEP program .
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket ( VASIMR ) is an electrothermal thruster under development for possible use in spacecraft propulsion . It uses radio waves to ionize and heat an inert propellant , then a magnetic field to accelerate the resulting plasma , generating thrust . It is a plasma propulsion engine , one of several types of spacecraft electric propulsion systems . The VASIMR method for heating plasma was originally developed during nuclear fusion research . VASIMR is intended to bridge the gap between high thrust , low specific impulse chemical rockets and low thrust , high specific impulse electric propulsion , but has not yet demonstrated high thrust . The VASIMR concept originated in 1977 with former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz , who has been developing the technology ever since .
A plasma propulsion engine is a type of electric propulsion that generates thrust from a quasi-neutral plasma . This is in contrast to ion thruster engines , which generate thrust through extracting an ion current from the plasma source , which is then accelerated to high velocities using grids/anodes . These exist in many forms ( see electric propulsion ) . Plasma thrusters do not typically use high voltage grids or anodes/cathodes to accelerate the charged particles in the plasma , but rather uses currents and potentials which are generated internally in the plasma to accelerate the plasma ions . While this results in a lower exhaust velocity by virtue of the lack of high accelerating voltages , this type of thruster has a number of advantages . The lack of high voltage grids of anodes removes a possible limiting element as a result of grid ion erosion . The plasma exhaust is 'quasi-neutral ' , which means that ions and electrons exist in equal number , which allows simple ion-electron recombination in the exhaust to neutralize the exhaust plume , removing the need for an electron gun ( hollow cathode ) . This type of thruster often generates the source plasma using radio frequency or microwave energy , using an external antenna . This fact , combined with the absence of hollow cathodes ( which are very sensitive to all but the few noble gases ) allows the intriguing possibility of being able to use this type of thruster on a huge range of propellants , from argon , to carbon dioxide , air mixtures , to astronaut urine . Plasma engines are better suited for long-distance interplanetary space travel missions . In recent years , many agencies have developed several forms of plasma-fueled engines , including the European Space Agency , Iranian Space Agency and Australian National University , which have co-developed a more advanced type described as a double layer thruster . However , this form of plasma engine is only one of many types .
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket ( VASIMR ) is an electrothermal thruster under development for possible use in spacecraft propulsion . It uses radio waves to ionize and heat an inert propellant , then a magnetic field to accelerate the resulting plasma , generating thrust . It is a plasma propulsion engine , one of several types of spacecraft electric propulsion systems . The VASIMR method for heating plasma was originally developed during nuclear fusion research . VASIMR is intended to bridge the gap between high thrust , low specific impulse chemical rockets and low thrust , high specific impulse electric propulsion , but has not yet demonstrated high thrust . The VASIMR concept originated in 1977 with former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz , who has been developing the technology ever since .
Romanian Cosmonautics and Aeronautics Association ( Romanian : Asociația Română pentru Cosmonautică și Aeronautică ) , also known as ARCAspace , is an aerospace company based in Las Cruces , New Mexico , United States . It builds space rockets and other manned and unmanned aircraft intended for space exploration . It was founded in 1999 as a non-governmental organization in Romania by the Romanian engineer Dumitru Popescu and other rocket and aeronautics enthusiasts . Since then ARCA has launched two stratospheric rockets , four large scale stratospheric balloons including a cluster balloon and was awarded two governmental contracts with the Romanian government and one contract with the European Space Agency . ARCA Aerospace is currently developing a single stage to orbit rocket designed to be cost-effective rather than re-usable .
Executor is a rocket engine developed by ARCA for use on its Haas rocket series and on IAR 111 Excelsior supersonic airplane . Executor uses kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellants in a gas-generator power cycle . The injector of Executor is of the pintle type that was first used in the Apollo Program for the lunar module landing engine . Propellants are fed via a single shaft , dual inducer-impeller turbo-pump . The turbine exhaust gases are used for attitude control of the Haas 2 rocket .
Liquid oxygen - abbreviated LOx , LOX or Lox in the aerospace , submarine and gas industries - is the liquid form of diatomic oxygen . It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard an application which has continued to the present .
RP-1 ( alternately , Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1 ) is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel , used as rocket fuel . RP-1 has a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen ( LH2 ) , but is cheaper , stable at room temperature , far less of an explosion hazard , and far denser . RP-1 is significantly more powerful than LH2 by volume . RP-1 also has a fraction of the toxicity and carcinogenic hazards of hydrazine , another room-temperature liquid fuel .
IAR-111 Excelsior is a supersonic mothership project , [ citation needed ] designed by ARCA Space Corporation , intended to transport a rocket payload up to 18,000 m ( 59,000 ft ) and for developing space tourism related technologies . The aircraft is to be constructed almost entirely from composite materials , and will be designed for take-off and landing from the sea surface . [ citation needed ]
Haas is a family of rocket space launchers developed by the ARCAspace for the Google Lunar X Prize competition and for their national manned space program . It consists of Haas balloon-launched orbital rocket , Haas 2 airplane-launched orbital rocket , Haas 2b ground-launched suborbital rocket and Super Haas ground-launched orbital rocket . It was named after Conrad Haas , a medieval rocket pioneer who lived and worked in what is now Romania , and was the first person to describe a multistage rocket in writing .
Blue Origin , LLC is an American privately funded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company headquartered in Kent , Washington . Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos , the company is led by CEO Bob Smith and is developing technologies to enable private human access to space with the goal to dramatically lower costs and increase reliability . Blue Origin is employing an incremental approach from suborbital to orbital flight , with each developmental step building on its prior work . The company motto is Gradatim Ferociter , Latin for Step by Step , Ferociously . Blue Origin is developing a variety of technologies , with a focus on rocket-powered vertical takeoff and vertical landing ( VTVL ) vehicles for access to suborbital and orbital space . The company 's name refers to the blue planet , Earth , as the point of origin . Initially focused on suborbital spaceflight , the company has designed , built and flown multiple testbeds of its New Shepard spacecraft at its facilities in Culberson County , Texas . Developmental test flights of the New Shepard , named after the first American in space Alan Shepard , began in April 2015 , and flight testing continued into 2018 . Blue has moved the date for first passengers back several times , with one recent planned timeframe being 2019 as of September 2018 . In the event , it has not yet begun commercial passenger flights , nor announced a firm date for when they would begin . On nearly every one of the test flights since 2015 , the uncrewed vehicle has reached a test altitude of more than 100 km ( 330,000 ft ) and achieved a top speed of more than Mach 3 ( 3,675 km/h ; 2,284 mph ) , reaching space above the Kármán line , with both the space capsule and its rocket booster successfully soft landing . Blue Origin moved into the orbital spaceflight technology business in 2014 , initially as a rocket engine supplier for others via a contractual agreement to build a new large rocket engine , the BE-4 , for major US launch system operator United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) .
The BE-3 ( Blue Engine 3 ) is a LH2/LOX rocket engine developed by Blue Origin . The engine began development in the early 2010s , and completed acceptance testing in early 2015 . The engine is being used on the Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital rocket , for which test flights began in 2015 . The engine was under consideration by United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) for use in a new second stage , the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage , in ULA 's Vulcan orbital launch vehicle with first flight in the 2020s .
Liquid hydrogen ( LH2 or LH2 ) is the liquid state of the element hydrogen . Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form . To exist as a liquid , H2 must be cooled below its critical point of 33 K. However , for it to be in a fully liquid state without boiling at atmospheric pressure , H2 needs to be cooled to 20.28 K ( −252.87 °C ; −423.17 °F ) . One common method of obtaining liquid hydrogen involves a compressor resembling a jet engine in both appearance and principle . Liquid hydrogen is typically used as a concentrated form of hydrogen storage . As for any gas , storing it as liquid takes less space than storing it as a gas at normal temperature and pressure . However , the liquid density is very low compared to other common fuels . Once liquefied , it can be maintained as a liquid in pressurized and thermally insulated containers . There are two spin isomers of hydrogen ; liquid hydrogen consists of 99.79% parahydrogen and 0.21% orthohydrogen .
Liquid oxygen - abbreviated LOx , LOX or Lox in the aerospace , submarine and gas industries - is the liquid form of diatomic oxygen . It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard an application which has continued to the present .
New Shepard is a vertical-takeoff , vertical-landing ( VTVL ) , human-rated suborbital rocket that is being developed by Blue Origin as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism . Blue Origin is owned and led by Amazon.com founder and businessman Jeff Bezos and aerospace engineer Rob Meyerson . NASA Silver Snoopy Award winner Robert Smith is the company 's chief executive officer . The name New Shepard makes reference to the first American astronaut in space , Alan Shepard , one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts , who ascended to space on a suborbital trajectory similar to that planned for New Shepard . Prototype engine and vehicle flights began in 2006 , while full-scale engine development started in the early 2010s and was complete by 2015 . Uncrewed flight testing of the complete New Shepard vehicle ( propulsion module and space capsule ) began in 2015 . On 23 November 2015 , after reaching 100.5 km ( 62.4 mi ) altitude ( outer space ) , the suborbital New Shepard booster successfully performed a powered vertical soft landing , the first time a suborbital booster rocket had returned from space to make a successful vertical landing . The test program continued in 2016 and 2017 with four additional test flights made with the same vehicle ( NS2 ) in 2016 and the first test flight of the new NS3 vehicle made in 2017 . Blue Origin planned their first crewed test flight to occur in 2019 , ( however , this did not occur ) , and has announced that tickets would begin to be sold for commercial flights .
The Blue Engine 4 or BE-4 is an oxygen rich liquefied-natural-gas-fueled staged-combustion rocket engine under development by Blue Origin . The BE-4 is being developed with private and public funding . The engine has been designed to produce 2,400 kilonewtons ( 550,000 lbf ) of thrust at sea level . It was initially planned for the engine to be used exclusively on a Blue Origin proprietary launch vehicle , New Glenn , the company 's first orbital rocket . However , it was announced in 2014 that the engine would also be used on the United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) Vulcan launch vehicle , the successor to the Atlas V launch vehicle . Final engine selection by ULA happened in September 2018 . Although previously planned to fly as early as 2019 , the first flight test of the new engine is now expected no earlier than 2021 on either the Vulcan or the New Glenn .
Methane ( US : /ˈmɛθeɪn/ or UK : /ˈmiːθeɪn/ ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4 ( one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen ) . It is a group-14 hydride and the simplest alkane , and is the main constituent of natural gas . The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an attractive fuel , although capturing and storing it poses challenges due to its gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure . Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground and under the seafloor , and is formed by both geological and biological processes . The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor in the form of methane clathrates . When methane reaches the surface and the atmosphere , it is known as atmospheric methane . The Earth 's atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 150% since 1750 , and it accounts for 20% of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases . Methane has also been detected on other planets , including Mars , which has implications for astrobiology research .
Vulcan is a next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by the United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) to meet the demands of the United States Air Force 's National Security Space Launch ( NSSL ) competition and launch program . The maiden flight is planned to take place in July 2021 , launching Astrobotic 's Peregrine lunar lander .
The New Glenn ( named for John Glenn ) is a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle in development by Blue Origin . Design work on the vehicle began in 2012 . The vehicle itself , and the high-level specifications , were initially publicly unveiled in September 2016 . New Glenn is described as a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 7 meters ( 23 ft ) . Its first stage will be powered by seven BE-4 engines that are also being designed and manufactured by Blue Origin . Like the New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle that preceded it , the New Glenn 's first stage is designed to be reusable . Blue Origin aims to launch New Glenn in 2021 .
An electrically-powered spacecraft propulsion system uses electrical , and possibly also magnetic fields , to change the velocity of a spacecraft . Most of these kinds of spacecraft propulsion systems work by electrically expelling propellant ( reaction mass ) at high speed . Electric thrusters typically use much less propellant than chemical rockets because they have a higher exhaust speed ( operate at a higher specific impulse ) than chemical rockets . Due to limited electric power the thrust is much weaker compared to chemical rockets , but electric propulsion can provide a small thrust for a long duration of time . Electric propulsion can achieve high speeds over long periods and thus can work better than chemical rockets for some deep space missions . Electric propulsion is now a mature and widely used technology on spacecraft . Russian satellites have used electric propulsion for decades and it is predicted that by 2020 , half of all new satellites will carry full electric propulsion . As of 2019 [ update ] , over 500 spacecraft operated throughout the Solar System use electric propulsion for station keeping , orbit raising , or primary propulsion . In the future , the most advanced electric thrusters may be able to impart a Delta-v of 100 km/s , which is enough to take a spacecraft to the outer planets of the Solar System ( with nuclear power ) , but is insufficient for interstellar travel . An electric rocket with an external power source ( transmissible through laser on the photovoltaic panels ) has a theoretical possibility for interstellar flight . However , electric propulsion is not a method suitable for launches from the Earth 's surface , as the thrust for such systems is too weak .
A resistojet is a method of spacecraft propulsion ( electric propulsion ) that provides thrust by heating a , typically non-reactive , fluid . Heating is usually achieved by sending electricity through a resistor consisting of a hot incandescent filament , with the expanded gas expelled through a conventional nozzle . Resistojets have been flown in space since 1965 on board military Vela satellites . However , they only became used in commercial applications in 1980 with the launch of the first satellites in the INTELSAT-V program . Many GEO spacecraft , and all 95 Iridium , used Aerojet MR-501/MR-502 series resistojet engines . Nowadays resistojet propulsion is used for orbit insertion , attitude control , and deorbit of LEO satellites , and do well in situations where energy is much more plentiful than mass , and where propulsion efficiency needs to be reasonably high but low thrust is acceptable . [ citation needed ] Resistojets have also been proposed as means of using biowaste as reaction mass , particularly in conjunction with hydrazine . Studies focus on the characteristics of steam and carbon dioxide as major constituents of a biowaste stream , and typically use cubic zirconia as a heating element .
A pulsed plasma thruster ( PPT ) , also known as a plasma jet engine , is a form of electric spacecraft propulsion . PPTs are generally considered the simplest form of electric spacecraft propulsion and were the first form of electric propulsion to be flown in space , having flown on two Soviet probes ( Zond 2 and Zond 3 ) starting in 1964 . PPTs are generally flown on spacecraft with a surplus of electricity from abundantly available solar energy .
Reaction Engines Limited ( REL ) is a British aerospace manufacturer based in Oxfordshire , England .
SABRE ( Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine ) is a concept under development by Reaction Engines Limited for a hypersonic precooled hybrid air-breathing rocket engine . The engine is being designed to achieve single-stage-to-orbit capability , propelling the proposed Skylon spaceplane to low Earth orbit . SABRE is an evolution of Alan Bond 's series of liquid air cycle engine ( LACE ) and LACE-like designs that started in the early/mid-1980s for the HOTOL project . The design comprises a single combined cycle rocket engine with two modes of operation . The air-breathing mode combines a turbo-compressor with a lightweight air precooler positioned just behind the inlet cone . At high speeds this precooler cools the hot , ram-compressed air , which would otherwise reach a temperature that the engine could not withstand , leading to a very high pressure ratio within the engine . The compressed air is subsequently fed into the rocket combustion chamber where it is ignited along with stored liquid hydrogen . The high pressure ratio allows the engine to provide high thrust at very high speeds and altitudes . The low temperature of the air permits light alloy construction to be employed and allow a very lightweight engine - essential for reaching orbit . In addition , unlike the LACE concept , SABRE 's precooler does not liquefy the air , letting it run more efficiently . After shutting the inlet cone off at Mach 5.14 , and at an altitude of 28.5 km , the system continues as a closed-cycle high-performance rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen from on-board fuel tanks , potentially allowing a hybrid spaceplane concept like Skylon to reach orbital velocity after leaving the atmosphere on a steep climb . An engine derived from the SABRE concept called Scimitar has been designed for the company 's A2 hypersonic passenger jet proposal for the European Union-funded LAPCAT study .
The precooled jet engine is a concept that enables jet engines with turbomachinery , as opposed to ramjets , to be used at high speeds . Precooling restores some or all of the performance degradation of the engine compressor ( by preventing rotating stall/choking/reduced flow ) , as well as that of the complete gas generator ( by maintaining a significant combustor temperature rise within a fixed turbine temperature limit ) , which would otherwise prevent flight with high ram temperatures . For higher flight speeds precooling may feature a cryogenic fuel-cooled heat exchanger before the air enters the compressor . After gaining heat and vapourising in the heat exchanger , the fuel ( e.g . H2 ) burns in the combustor . Precooling using a heat exchanger has not been used in flight , but is predicted to have significantly high thrust and efficiency at speeds up to Mach 5.5 . Precooled jet engine cycles were analyzed by Robert P. Carmichael in 1955.:138 Pre-cooled engines avoid the need for an air condenser because , unlike liquid air cycle engines ( LACE ) , pre-cooled engines cool the air without liquefying it . For lower flight speeds precooling can be done with mass injection , known as WIPCC ( water injection precompressor cooling ) This method has been used for short duration ( due to limited coolant capacity ) increases to an aircraft 's normal maximum speed . Operation Skyburner , which gained a world speed record with a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II , and the Mikoyan Ye-266 ( Mig 25 ) . Both used a water/alcohol spray to cool the air ahead of the compressor . Precooling ( as well as combustion chamber water injection ) is used at the lowest flight speeds , i.e . during take off , to increase thrust at high ambient temperatures .
Skylon is a series of designs for a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane by the British company Reaction Engines Limited ( REL ) , using SABRE , a combined-cycle , air-breathing rocket propulsion system . The vehicle design is for a hydrogen-fuelled aircraft that would take off from a purpose-built runway , and accelerate to Mach 5.4 at 26 kilometres ( 85,000 ft ) altitude ( compared to typical airliners ' 9-13 kilometres or 30,000-40,000 feet ) using the atmosphere 's oxygen before switching the engines to use the internal liquid oxygen ( LOX ) supply to take it into orbit . :5 It could carry 17 tonnes ( 37,000 lb ) of cargo to an equatorial low Earth orbit ( LEO ) ; up to 11 tonnes ( 24,000 lb ) to the International Space Station , almost 45% more than the capacity of the European Space Agency 's Automated Transfer Vehicle ; or 7.3 tonnes ; 7,300 kilograms ( 16,000 lb ) to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit ( GTO ) , over 24% more than SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle ( As of 2018 [ update ] . ) The relatively light vehicle would then re-enter the atmosphere and land on a runway , being protected from the conditions of re-entry by a ceramic composite skin . When on the ground , it would undergo inspection and necessary maintenance , with a turnaround time of approximately two days , and be able to complete at least 200 orbital flights per vehicle . As work on the project has progressed , information has been published on a number of design versions , including A4 , :Fig 1 p165 C1 , C2 , and D1 . Testing of the key technologies was successfully completed in November 2012 , allowing Skylon 's design to advance from its research phase to a development phase . As of 2017 [ update ] , an engine test facility was being built at Westcott [ needs update ] and if all goes to plan , the first ground-based engine tests could happen in 2020 , and SABRE engines could be performing uncrewed test flights by 2025 . In paper studies , the cost per kilogram of payload carried to LEO in this way is hoped to be reduced from the current £1,108/kg ( as of December 2015 [ update ] ) , including research and development , to around £650/kg , with costs expected to fall much more over time after initial expenditures have amortised . In 2004 , the developer estimated the total lifetime cost of the Skylon C1 programme to be about $ 12 billion . As of 2017 [ update ] , only a small portion of the funding required to develop and build Skylon had been secured . For the first couple of decades the work was privately funded , with public funding beginning in 2009 through a European Space Agency ( ESA ) contract .
SpaceDev , a part of the Space Systems Business of Sierra Nevada Corporation , is prominent for its spaceflight and microsatellite work . It designed and built components for the hybrid rocket motors for Paul Allen 's Tier One suborbital SpaceShipOne space program operated by Scaled Composites . It is also developing micro- and nano-satellites , a small expendable launch vehicle , the SpaceDev Streaker , and has designed a piloted suborbital and orbital spaceship of its own , the SpaceDev Dream Chaser , in collaboration with NASA . SpaceDev is based near San Diego in Poway , California . Its objective is to make routine commercial spaceflight possible and to help open space for all of humanity . Previously a publicly traded company ( OTCBB : SPDV ) , on 20 October 2008 SpaceDev officials announced that the company would be acquired by Sierra Nevada Corporation , a privately owned company . The announced acquisition price was 38 million dollars . The role of SpaceDev will be melded into another of Sierra Nevada 's subsidiary companies , MicroSat , to create a more complete space technology unit . On December 16 , 2008 SpaceDev announced its acquisition by Sierra Nevada Corporation had been completed .
SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 900 m/s ( 3,000 ft/s ) , using a hybrid rocket motor . The design features a unique feathering atmospheric reentry system where the rear half of the wing and the twin tail booms folds 70 degrees upward along a hinge running the length of the wing ; increasing drag while remaining stable . SpaceShipOne completed the first crewed private spaceflight in 2004 . That same year , it won the US $ 10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service . Its mother ship was named White Knight . Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures , which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites , Burt Rutan 's aviation company . Allen provided the funding of approximately US $ 25 million . Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years . [ citation needed ] The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17 , 2003 , which was also the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers ' historic first powered flight . SpaceShipOne 's first official spaceflight , known as flight 15P , was piloted by Mike Melvill . A few days before that flight , the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States . A few hours after that flight , Melvill became the first licensed U.S. commercial astronaut .
A hybrid-propellant rocket is a rocket with a rocket motor that uses rocket propellants in two different phases : one solid and the other either gas or liquid . The hybrid rocket concept can be traced back at least 75 years . Hybrid rockets avoid some of the disadvantages of solid rockets like the dangers of propellant handling , while also avoiding some disadvantages of liquid rockets like their mechanical complexity . Because it is difficult for the fuel and oxidizer to be mixed intimately ( being different states of matter ) , hybrid rockets tend to fail more benignly than liquids or solids . Like liquid rocket engines , hybrid rocket motors can be shut down easily and the thrust is throttleable . The theoretical specific impulse ( I s p { \displaystyle I_ { sp } } ) performance of hybrids is generally higher than solid motors and lower than liquid engines . I s p { \displaystyle I_ { sp } } as high as 400s has been measured in a hybrid rocket using metalized fuels . Hybrid systems are more complex than solid ones , but they avoid significant hazards of manufacturing , shipping and handling solid rocket motors by storing the oxidizer and the fuel separately .
SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 900 m/s ( 3,000 ft/s ) , using a hybrid rocket motor . The design features a unique feathering atmospheric reentry system where the rear half of the wing and the twin tail booms folds 70 degrees upward along a hinge running the length of the wing ; increasing drag while remaining stable . SpaceShipOne completed the first crewed private spaceflight in 2004 . That same year , it won the US $ 10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service . Its mother ship was named White Knight . Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures , which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites , Burt Rutan 's aviation company . Allen provided the funding of approximately US $ 25 million . Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years . [ citation needed ] The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17 , 2003 , which was also the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers ' historic first powered flight . SpaceShipOne 's first official spaceflight , known as flight 15P , was piloted by Mike Melvill . A few days before that flight , the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States . A few hours after that flight , Melvill became the first licensed U.S. commercial astronaut .
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. , trading as SpaceX , is a private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne , California . It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars . SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles and the Dragon spacecraft . SpaceX 's achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit ( Falcon 1 in 2008 ) , the first private company to successfully launch , orbit , and recover a spacecraft ( Dragon in 2010 ) , the first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station ( Dragon in 2012 ) , the first propulsive landing for an orbital rocket ( Falcon 9 in 2015 ) , the first reuse of an orbital rocket ( Falcon 9 in 2017 ) , and the first private company to launch an object into orbit around the sun ( Falcon Heavy 's payload of a Tesla Roadster in 2018 ) . SpaceX has flown 18 resupply missions to the International Space Station ( ISS ) under a partnership with NASA . NASA also awarded SpaceX a further development contract in 2011 to develop and demonstrate a human-rated Dragon , which would be used to transport astronauts to the ISS and return them safely to Earth . SpaceX conducted the maiden launch of its Dragon 2 spacecraft on a NASA-required demonstration flight ( Crew Dragon Demo-1 ) on March 2 , 2019 and is set to launch its first crewed Dragon 2 in March 2020 . In December 2015 , a Falcon 9 accomplished a propulsive vertical landing . This was the first such achievement by a rocket for orbital spaceflight . In April 2016 , with the launch of CRS-8 , SpaceX successfully vertically landed the first stage on an ocean drone ship landing platform . In May 2016 , in another first , SpaceX again landed the first stage , but during a significantly more energetic geostationary transfer orbit mission . In March 2017 , SpaceX became the first to successfully re-launch and land the first stage of an orbital rocket .
The SpaceX Kestrel was an LOX/RP-1 pressure-fed rocket engine . The Kestrel engine was developed in the 2000s by SpaceX for upper stage use on the Falcon 1 rocket . Kestrel is no longer being manufactured ; the last flight of Falcon 1 was in 2009 . Kestrel was built around the same pintle architecture as the SpaceX Merlin engine but does not have a turbo-pump and is fed only by tank pressure . Kestrel is ablatively cooled in the chamber and throat and radiatively cooled in the nozzle , which is fabricated from a high strength niobium alloy . As a metal , niobium is highly resistant to cracking compared to carbon-carbon . According to SpaceX , an impact from orbital debris or during stage separation might dent the metal but have no meaningful effect on engine performance . Helium pressurant efficiency is substantially increased via a titanium heat exchanger on the ablative/niobium boundary . Thrust vector control is provided by electro-mechanical actuators on the engine dome for pitch and yaw . Roll control ( and attitude control during coast phases ) is provided by helium cold gas thrusters . A TEA-TEB pyrophoric ignition system is used to provide multiple restart capability on the upper stage . In a multi-manifested mission , this design would allow for drop off at different altitudes and inclinations .
The Falcon 1 was an expendable launch system privately developed and manufactured by SpaceX during 2006-2009 . On 28 September 2008 , Falcon 1 became the first privately-developed liquid-fuel launch vehicle to go into orbit around the Earth . :203 The two-stage-to-orbit rocket used LOX/RP-1 for both stages , the first powered by a single Merlin engine and the second powered by a single Kestrel engine . It was designed by SpaceX from the ground up . The vehicle was launched a total of five times . Falcon 1 achieved orbit on its fourth attempt , in September 2008 with a mass simulator as a payload . On 14 July 2009 , Falcon 1 made its final flight and successfully delivered the Malaysian RazakSAT satellite to orbit on SpaceX 's first commercial launch ( fifth launch overall ) . Following its fifth launch , the Falcon 1 was retired and succeeded by Falcon 9 . SpaceX had announced an enhanced variant , the Falcon 1e , but development was stopped in favor of Falcon 9 .
The SpaceX Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1 , Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles . Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle . The Merlin engine was originally designed for sea recovery and reuse . The injector at the heart of Merlin is of the pintle type that was first used in the Apollo Lunar Module landing engine ( LMDE ) . Propellants are fed via a single shaft , dual impeller turbopump . The turbopump also provides high-pressure fluid for the hydraulic actuators , which then recycles into the low-pressure inlet . This eliminates the need for a separate hydraulic drive system and means that thrust vectoring control failure by running out of hydraulic fluid is not possible .
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable two-stage-to-orbit medium lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX in the United States . It is powered by Merlin engines , also developed by SpaceX , burning cryogenic liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene ( RP-1 ) as propellants . Its name is derived from the Millennium Falcon and the nine engines of the rocket 's first stage . The rocket evolved with versions v1.0 ( 2010-2013 ) , v1.1 ( 2013-2016 ) , v1.2 Full Thrust ( 2015-present ) , including the Block 5 Full Thrust variant , flying since May 2018 . Unlike most rockets , which are expendable launch systems , since the introduction of the Full Thrust version , Falcon 9 is partially reusable , with the first stage capable of re-entering the atmosphere and landing back vertically after separating from the second stage . This feat was achieved for the first time on flight 20 with the v1.2 version in December 2015 . Falcon 9 can lift payloads of up to 22,800 kilograms ( 50,300 lb ) to low Earth orbit , 8,300 kg ( 18,300 lb ) to geostationary transfer orbit ( GTO ) when expended , and 5,500 kg ( 12,100 lb ) to GTO when the first stage is recovered . The heaviest GTO payloads flown have been Intelsat 35e with 6,761 kg ( 14,905 lb ) , and Telstar 19V with 7,075 kg ( 15,598 lb ) , although the latter was launched into a lower-energy GTO orbit achieving an apogee well below the geostationary altitude . In 2008 , SpaceX won a Commercial Resupply Services ( CRS ) contract in NASA 's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services ( COTS ) program to deliver cargo to the International Space Station ( ISS ) using the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule . The first mission under this contract launched on October 8 , 2012 . SpaceX intends to certify the Falcon 9 to be human-rated for transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS as part of the NASA Commercial Crew Development program . Currently , Falcon 9 has been certified for the National Security Space Launch program and NASA Launch Services Program as Category 3 , which can launch the priciest , most important , and most complex NASA missions .
The Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX . It is derived from the Falcon 9 vehicle and consists of a strengthened Falcon 9 first stage as the center core with two additional first stages as strap-on boosters . The Falcon Heavy has the highest payload capacity of any currently operational launch vehicle , the second-highest capacity of any rocket ever to reach orbit , trailing the Saturn V , and the third-highest capacity of any orbital-class rocket ever launched ( behind the Saturn V and Energia ) . SpaceX conducted the Falcon Heavy 's maiden launch on February 6 , 2018 , at 3:45 p.m. EST ( 20:45 UTC ) . The rocket carried a Tesla Roadster belonging to SpaceX founder Elon Musk , as a dummy payload . The second Falcon Heavy launch occurred on April 11 , 2019 and all three booster rockets successfully returned to earth . The third Falcon Heavy launch successfully occurred on June 25 , 2019 . Since then , the Falcon Heavy has been certified for the National Security Space Launch program . The Falcon Heavy was designed to be able to carry humans into space beyond low Earth orbit , although as of February 2018 [ update ] , SpaceX does not plan to transport people on the Falcon Heavy , nor pursue the human-rating certification process to transport NASA astronauts . The Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 will be replaced by the Starship launch system .
The SpaceX Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1 , Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles . Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle . The Merlin engine was originally designed for sea recovery and reuse . The injector at the heart of Merlin is of the pintle type that was first used in the Apollo Lunar Module landing engine ( LMDE ) . Propellants are fed via a single shaft , dual impeller turbopump . The turbopump also provides high-pressure fluid for the hydraulic actuators , which then recycles into the low-pressure inlet . This eliminates the need for a separate hydraulic drive system and means that thrust vectoring control failure by running out of hydraulic fluid is not possible .
The SpaceX Raptor is a full-flow , staged-combustion , methane-fueled rocket engine manufactured by SpaceX . The engine is powered by cryogenic liquid methane and liquid oxygen ( LOX ) , rather than the RP-1 kerosene and LOX used in SpaceX 's prior Merlin and Kestrel rocket engines . The earliest concepts for Raptor considered liquid hydrogen ( LH2 ) as fuel rather than methane . The Raptor engine has about two times the thrust of the Merlin 1D engine that powers the current Falcon 9 launch vehicle . Raptor will be used in both stages of the two-stage-to-orbit , super heavy-lift launch vehicle Starship . The Raptor engine is a highly reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that will power the next generation of SpaceX launch vehicles designed to replace all existing SpaceX vehicles , including the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles and the Dragon 2 . Raptor engines are expected to be used in various applications , including existing Earth-orbit satellite delivery market , the exploration and colonization of Mars . Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starhopper in July 2019 and became the first full-flow staged-combustion rocket engine ever flown .
Elon Musk and SpaceX have proposed the development of Mars transportation infrastructure in order to facilitate the eventual colonization of Mars . The mission architecture includes fully reusable launch vehicles , human-rated spacecraft , on-orbit propellant tankers , rapid-turnaround launch/landing mounts , and local production of rocket fuel on Mars via in situ resource utilization ( ISRU ) . SpaceX 's aspirational goal is to land the first humans on Mars by 2024 . The key element of the infrastructure is supposed to be the SpaceX Starship , a fully reusable space vehicle . To achieve a large payload , the spacecraft would first enter Earth orbit , where it is expected to be refueled before it departs to Mars . After landing on Mars , the spacecraft would be loaded with locally-produced propellants to return to Earth . The expected payload of Super Heavy is for the Starship upper stage to inject between 100-150 tonnes ( 220,000-330,000 lb ) to Mars . SpaceX intends to concentrate its resources on the transportation part of the Mars colonization project , including the design of a propellant plant based on the Sabatier process that will be deployed on Mars to synthesize methane and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants from the local supply of atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground-accessible water ice . However , Musk advocates a larger set of long-term Mars settlement objectives , going far beyond what SpaceX projects to build ; a successful colonization would ultimately involve many more economic actors - whether individuals , companies , or governments - to facilitate the growth of the human presence on Mars over many decades .
Liquid oxygen - abbreviated LOx , LOX or Lox in the aerospace , submarine and gas industries - is the liquid form of diatomic oxygen . It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard an application which has continued to the present .
JP-8 , or JP8 ( for Jet Propellant 8 ) is a jet fuel , specified and used widely by the US military . It is specified by MIL-DTL-83133 and British Defence Standard 91-87 , and similar to commercial aviation 's Jet A-1 , but with the addition of corrosion inhibitor and anti-icing additives . A kerosene-based fuel , JP-8 is projected to remain in use at least until 2025 . It was first introduced at NATO bases in 1978 . Its NATO code is F-34 .
Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight company within the Virgin Group . It is developing commercial spacecraft and aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists and suborbital launches for space science missions . SpaceShipTwo , Virgin Galactic 's suborbital spacecraft , is air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two . Virgin Galactic 's founder , Richard Branson , had initially suggested that he hoped to see a maiden flight by the end of 2009 , but this date has been delayed on a number of occasions , most seriously by the October 2014 in-flight loss of SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise . Branson stated that Virgin Galactic was in the best position in the world to provide rocket-powered , point-to-point 3000 mph air travel on Earth . While Branson suggested , in October 2017 , that he could travel to space aboard a SpaceShipTwo within six months , it was not until 13 December 2018 that VSS Unity achieved the project 's first suborbital space flight , reaching an altitude of 82.7 kilometres ( 51.4 mi ) , officially entering outer space by US standards . The project carried a third person as a passenger in February 2019 , when a member of the team sat and floated within the cabin during a flight that reached 89.9 kilometres ( 55.9 mi ) .
RocketMotorTwo ( RM2 ) is a family of hybrid rocket engines that are being developed for the Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane . The first-generation engine was developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation ( SNC ) , from the late 2000s to May 2014 . It was first ignited in flight during a SpaceShipTwo test launch in April 2013 . This engine design was subsequently flown in only two additional flight tests during 2013 and January 2014 . SNC was a subcontractor to Scaled Composites through May 2014 when their involvement in the program ended after Virgin Galactic elected to replace SNC 's version of RocketMotorTwo powered by HTPB rubber fuel , with its own internally developed hybrid motor for SpaceShipTwo . The second-generation RocketMotorTwo engine is a variant of the earlier SNC basic design , but is fueled by polyamide plastic fuel , while continuing to use the same nitrous oxide oxidizer . The second-generation engine is now made in-house by Virgin Galactic rather than by SNC .
The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo ( SS2 ) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism . It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company , a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic . SpaceShipTwo is carried to its launch altitude by a Scaled Composites White Knight Two , before being released to fly on into the upper atmosphere powered by its rocket engine . It then glides back to Earth and performs a conventional runway landing . The spaceship was officially unveiled to the public on 7 December 2009 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California . On 29 April 2013 , after nearly three years of unpowered testing , the first one constructed successfully performed its first powered test flight . Virgin Galactic plans to operate a fleet of five SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes in a private passenger-carrying service and has been taking bookings for some time , with a suborbital flight carrying an updated ticket price of US $ 250,000 . The spaceplane could also be used to carry scientific payloads for NASA and other organizations . On 31 October 2014 , during a test flight , the first SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise broke up in flight and crashed in the Mojave desert . A preliminary investigation suggested that the craft 's descent device deployed too early . One pilot , Michael Alsbury , was killed ; the other was treated for a serious shoulder injury after parachuting from the stricken spacecraft . The second SpaceShipTwo spacecraft , VSS Unity , was unveiled on 19 February 2016 .