lotnictwo: SpaceX reusable launch system development program

Evidence: 38 • authority: 72

Super Heavy is the reusable first stage of the SpaceX Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicle, which it composes in combination with the Starship second stage. As a part of SpaceX's Mars colonization program, the booster evolved into its current design over a decade. Production began in 2021, with the first flight being conducted on April 20, 2023, during the first launch attempt of the Starship rocket. The booster is powered by 33 Raptor engines that use liquid oxygen and methane as propellants. It returns to its launch site after propelling the second stage toward orbit, landing vertically by being caught by the launch tower.

Evidence: 31 • authority: 72

Raptor is a family of rocket engines developed and manufactured by SpaceX. It is the third rocket engine in history designed with a full-flow staged combustion fuel cycle, and the first such engine to power a vehicle in flight. The engine is powered by cryogenic liquid methane and liquid oxygen, a combination known as methalox. SpaceX's super-heavy-lift rocket Starship uses Raptor engines in its Super Heavy booster and in the Starship second stage. Starship missions include lifting payloads to Earth orbit and is also planned for missions to the Moon and Mars. The engines are being designed for reuse with little maintenance.

Evidence: — • authority: 72

New Glenn is a family of two-stage partially reusable launch vehicles developed and operated by the American company Blue Origin. The rocket has an operational heavy-lift New Glenn 7×2 configuration and under-development super heavy-lift New Glenn 9×4 configuration, both using seven-meter (23 ft) diameter stages. With a payload capacity of 45 tons to low Earth orbit, it was the most powerful reusable launch vehicle to reach orbit until Starship flight 14. Development of New Glenn began before 2013 and was officially announced in 2016. The rocket is named for NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. The inaugural vehicle was unveiled on the launch pad in February 2024. I…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

As of October 13, 2026, rockets from the Falcon 9 family have been launched 708 times, with 705 full mission successes, two mission failures during launch, one mission failure before launch, and one partial failure. Designed and operated by SpaceX, the Falcon 9 family includes the retired versions Falcon 9 v1.0, launched five times from June 2010 to March 2013; Falcon 9 v1.1, launched 15 times from September 2013 to January 2016; and Falcon 9 v1.2 "Full Thrust" (blocks 3 and 4), launched 36 times from December 2015 to June 2018. The active "Full Thrust" variant Falcon 9 Block 5 has launched 638 times since May 2018. Falcon Heavy, a heavy-lift derivative of Falcon 9, combining a strengthened…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core on which two Falcon 9 boosters are attached, and a second stage on top of the center core. Falcon Heavy has the second highest payload capacity of any currently operational launch vehicle behind NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), and the fourth-highest capacity of any rocket to reach orbit, trailing behind the SLS, Energia and the Saturn V. SpaceX conducted Falcon Heavy's maiden launch on February 6, 2018, at 20:45 UTC. As a dummy payload, the rocket car…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Starship (or colloquially the Ship) is a spacecraft and second stage under development by American aerospace company SpaceX. Stacked atop its booster, Super Heavy, the pair compose SpaceX's super heavy-lift space vehicle, also called Starship. The spacecraft is designed to transport both passengers and cargo to a variety of destinations, including Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. It is designed to be reusable and capable of landing propulsively by firing its engines to perform a controlled descent into the arms of a tower on Earth or with landing legs on other planetary bodies. It is intended to enable long-duration interplanetary flights with up to 100 passengers. It is also claimed by Spa…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

SpaceX has privately funded the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has developed technologies since the 2010s to facilitate full and rapid reuse of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site within minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad, following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal is reusability of both stages of their orbital launch vehicles, and the first stage would be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return. While development of r…