A launch vehicle is a vehicle to carry a spacecraft or other payload like satellites from Earth to outer spaceW. This is often a carrier rocket but also includes vehicles like the Space Shuttles.
General information[]
To carry a payload to orbit, a launch vehicle typically has to lift it to a parking orbit at around 150 - 200 km above ground, and must accelerate it to a horizontal velocity of at least 7,814 m/s (28,130 km/h or 17,480 mi/h). From this temporary parking orbit, after coasting for a while, either the spacecraft itself, or the last stage of the launch vehicle fires again to enter the final trajectory. The alternative to a parking orbit is direct injection, where the rocket fires continuously until its fuel is exhausted, ending with the payload on the final trajectory.
To get the necessary delta-v, orbital launch vehicles are multi-staged rockets. They use different kinds of chemical rocket fuels, such as liquid hydrogen (LH2), liquid oxygen (LOX), or kerosene. Some launch vehicles also use solid rocket boosters (SRB). Launch vehicles are classified by their orbital payload capacity, ranging from small-, medium-, heavy- to super heavy-lift vehicles.
Launch vehicles are usually launched from a so called launchpad or launch platform. These can be on land (spaceport), on a fixed or a mobile ocean platform, or on a submarine. Launch vehicles can also be launched from a carrier aircraft, called air-launch-to-orbitW (ALTO).
An alternative to multi-stage launch vehicles are single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles.
Selection of launch vehicles[]
| Image | Name | Country | Stages | Size | Payload | Active | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saturn IB |  |
2 S-IB (1st stage) S-IVB (2nd stage) |
Height: 68.1 m Diameter: 6.6 m Mass: 590 t |
To LEO: 21'000 kg | retired | Orbital missions during Apollo program |
|
Saturn V | |
3 S-IC (1st stage) S-II (2nd stage) S-IVB (3nd stage) |
Height: 110 m Diameter: 10 m Mass: 3'000 t |
To LEO: 140'000 kg To TLI: 43'500 kg |
retired | Crewed lunar missions during Apollo program |
|
Titan III | |
2 + 2 optional SRBs |
Height: 36 - 49 m Diameter: 3 m Mass: 160 - 630 t |
To LEO: 3'000 - 15'400 kg | Uncrewed orbital payload missions Lunar support missions | |
|
Sea Dragon | |
2 | Height: 150 m Diameter: 23 m |
To LEO: 550'000 kg To TLI: 450'000+ kg |
active | Jamestown base building & supply missions |
|
Space Shuttle | |
1.5 2 SRBs External extra tank |
Height: 56.1 m Diameter: 8.7 m |
To LEO: 27'500 kg To GEO: 2'270 kg |
active | Orbital & lunar missions Jamestown crew rotations |
|
N1 |  |
5 | Height: 105.3 m Diameter: 17 m Mass: 2'750 t |
To LEO: 95'000 kg To TLI: 23'500 kg |
retired | Crewed lunar spaceflight First manned Moon landing |
|
N3 | |
5 | Build & supply Zvezda base Zvezda crew rotations | |||
|
EnergiaW | |
2 4 boosters |
Height: 58.8 m Diameter: 17.7 m Mass: 2'400 t |
To LEO: 100'000 kg To TLI: 32'000 kg |
active | Carrier for the Buran shuttle |
|
Chinese launch vehicle |
 |
2 + 4 boosters |
Height: 62 m Diameter: 3.4 m (7.9 m max.) Mass: 464 t |
To LEO: 8'400 kg | Building a lunar Moon base | |
|
North Korean launch vehicle |
 |
3 | Height: 28 - 30 m Diameter: 2.4 m Mass: 86.75 - 91 t |
To LEO: 200 kg | Orbital missions |
Behind the scenes[]
Comparison of launch vehicles[]
Comparison of historical, current, planned, and proposed launch vehicles:
Notes[]
- The North Korean rocket and the launch site (seen in the episodes 3x01, 3x04 and in the Apple TV+ bonus video) is the North Korean Unha-3 carrier rocketW at its launch pad at the Sohae Satellite Launching StationW in Tongch'ang-ri in 2012.
- The Chinese rocket (seen in the press review opening in episode 3x01) was a Long March 2FW on its way to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch CenterW in Inner Mongolia on October 31, 2011, for its first docking test mission with the Chinese space station Tiangong 1W.
- The images of the N1 and the Energia vehicles are not taken from the show, as these vehicles are only mentioned but never shown on screen. The N3 is a fictional vehicle and didn't exist in reality.
- Most technical data for all shown vehicles is taken from their real life variants, as they are not mentioned in the show. In the show's timeline, they could possibly be different.
- There is an inconsistency with Sea Dragon about what is said and what is shown in the AppleTV+ Bonus video. The news anchor says that the height is 490 ft (150 m) while at the same time a graphic shown reads that it's 545 ft (166 m). Since 150 m matches with the real-life concept of the rocket, it is assumed here that this is the correct size.
See also[]
External links[]
Launch vehicle on Wikipedia