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The satellite designs also required that the Space Shuttle have a 4.6 by 18 m (15 by 60 ft) payload bay. NASA evaluated the F-1 and J-2 engines from the Saturn rockets , and determined that they were insufficient for the requirements of the Space Shuttle; in July 1971, it issued a contract to Rocketdyne to begin development on the RS-25 engine.
SpaceX aims to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, creating a mass-manufacturing pipeline and adapting it to a wide range of space missions. [3] [4] Starship is the latest project in SpaceX's reusable launch system development program and plan to colonize Mars.
The four currently active space station cargo vehicles. Clockwise from top left: Progress, Cargo Dragon 2, Cygnus, Tianzhou. A number of different spacecraft have been used to carry cargo to and from space stations .
The most massive payload launched by the Space Shuttle was the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 at 50,162 lb (22,753 kg), including its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and support equipment. [40] The Shuttle was capable of returning approximately 16,000 kg (35,000 lb) of cargo to Earth.
Spacecraft Origin Manufacturer Range Launch system Crew size Length (m) Diameter (m) Launch mass (kg) Power system Recovery method Payload (kg) ‡
A related concept was servicing the space station using the Air Force Titan III-M to launch a larger Gemini capsule, called "Big Gemini", or a smaller "glider" version of the shuttle with no main engines and a 15 ft × 30 ft (4.6 m × 9.1 m) payload bay.
A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initially berthed to the Unity and later the Harmony module on the ISS. Once attached, supplies were ...
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. [ 1 ]