List of United States rockets
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Launchers

;1940s *
MX-774 The RTV-A-2 Hiroc (high-altitude rocket) was a product of the United States' first effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The project was named MX-774. The project was canceled in 1947, but leftover funds were used to bu ...
(1946) ;1950s * PGM-11 Redstone (1950–1964) * SM-65 Atlas (1953 - 1965) * PGM-19 Jupiter (1954 - 1961) * PGM-17 Thor (1957 - 1960) * SM-65A Atlas (1957 - 1958) *
Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...
(1957-1959) * Juno I (1958) * SM-65B Atlas (1958–1959) * Thor-Able (1958–1960) *
Juno II Juno II was an American space launch vehicle used during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was derived from the Jupiter missile, which was used as the first stage. Development Solid rocket motors derived from the MGM-29 Sergeant were used ...
(1958–1961) * SM-65C Atlas (1958 - 1959) * Titan I (1959–1965) *
SM-65D Atlas The SM-65D Atlas, or Atlas D, was the first operational version of the U.S. Atlas missile. Atlas D was first used as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to deliver a nuclear weapon payload on a suborbital trajectory. It was later dev ...
(1959–1967) * Atlas-Able (1959–1960) * Thor-Agena (1959-1968) * Little Joe (1959–1961) ;1960s * Atlas-Agena (1960–1978) * Thor-Ablestar (1960–1965) * Thor-Delta (1960–1962) * SM-65E Atlas (1960-1995) *
Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, designed for NASA's Project Mercury, was the first American crewed space booster. It was used for six sub-orbital Mercury flights from 1960–1961; culminating with the launch of the first, and 11 weeks l ...
(1960–1961) * Atlas LV-3B (1960–1963) *
Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...
(1961–1994) *
Saturn I The Saturn I was a rocket designed as the United States' first medium lift launch vehicle for up to low Earth orbit payloads.Terminology has changed since the 1960s; back then, 20,000 pounds was considered "heavy lift". The rocket's first stag ...
(1961–1965) * SM-65F Atlas (1961-1981) * Titan II (1962-2003) *
LGM-30 Minuteman The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and r ...
(1962-1970) * Atlas-Centaur (1962–1983) *
Delta A The Delta A, or Thor-Delta A was an American expendable launch system used to launch two Explorer spacecraft in October 1962. A derivative of the Thor-Delta, it was a member of the Delta family of launch vehicles. The Thor-Delta itself was a Th ...
(1962) * Delta B (1962–1964) * Little Joe II (1963–1966) * Delta C (1963–1969) * Titan II GLV (1964–1966) *
Delta D The Delta D, Thrust Augmented Delta or Thor-Delta D was an American expendable launch system used to launch two communications satellites in 1964 and 1965. It was derived from the Delta C, and was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The thre ...
(1964–1965) * Titan IIIA (1964–1965) *
Thor-Burner The Thor-Burner was an American expendable launch system An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or disca ...
(1965–1976) *
Titan IIIC The Titan IIIC was an expendable launch system used by the United States Air Force from 1965 until 1982. It was the first Titan booster to feature large solid rocket motors and was planned to be used as a launcher for the Dyna-Soar, though the s ...
(1965–1982) * Atlas E/F (1965–2001) *
Delta E The Delta E, or Thor-Delta E was an American expendable launch system used for twenty-three orbital launches between 1965 and 1971. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The first stage was a Thor missile in the DSV-2C configuration, ...
(1965–1971) * Atlas SLV-3 (1966–1968) *
Saturn IB The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, ...
(1966–1975) * Titan IIIB (1966–1987) * Thorad-Agena (1966 - 1972) * Delta G (1966–1967) *
Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...
(1967–1973) * Delta J (1968) * Delta L (1969–1972) *
Delta M The Delta M or Thor-Delta M was an American expendable launch system used for thirteen orbital launches between 1968 and 1971. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The Delta M had a three-stage configuration. The first stage was the ...
(1968–1972) * Delta N (1968–1972) ;1970s *
Titan IIID The Titan IIID or Titan 3D was an American expendable launch system, part of the Titan rocket family. Titan IIID was flown 22 times with KH-9 and KH-11 satellites between 1971 and 1982, all successful launches. Essentially a Titan IIIC with the ...
(1971–1982) * Delta 0100 (1972–1973) * Delta 1000 (1972–1975) * Titan IIIE (1974-1977) *
Delta 2000 The Delta 2000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct forty-four orbital launches between 1974 and 1981. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, which were differentiated by a ...
(1974–1981) *
Delta 3000 The Delta 3000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct 38 orbital launches between 1975 and 1989. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, which were differentiated by a four ...
(1975–1989) *
Thor DSV-2U The Thor DSV-2U or Thor LV-2F Star-37XE Star-37S-ISS was an American expendable launch system used to launch five DMSP weather satellites between 1976 and 1980. It was a member of the Thor family of rockets, and a derivative of the Thor DSV-2. Th ...
(1976–1980) ;1980s * Conestoga (1981-1995) *
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
(1981–2011) * Titan 34D (1982–1989) * Atlas H (1983–1987) *
Atlas G The Atlas G, also known as Atlas G Centaur-D1AR was an American expendable launch system derived from the Atlas-Centaur. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets, and was used to launch seven communication satellites during the mid to late ...
(1984–1989) * Titan 23G (1988–2003) *
Delta II Delta II was an expendable launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000, and the two later Delta 7000 va ...
(1989–2018)Delta II Data Sheet
/ref> * Titan IV (1989–2005) * Delta 4000 (1989–1990) *
Delta 5000 The Delta 5000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct an orbital launch in 1989. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Although several variants were put forward, only the Delta 5920 was launched. The d ...
(1989) ;1990s *
Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
(1990–present) * Commercial Titan III (1990–1992) * Atlas I (1990–1997) * Atlas II (1991–2004) * Minotaur-C/Taurus (1994–present) *
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
(1995–2001) *
Delta III Delta III was an expendable launch vehicle made by Boeing. The vehicle was developed from the highly-successful Delta II to help meet the launch demand of larger satellites. The first Delta III launch was on August 26, 1998. Of its three flights ...
(1998–2000) ;2000s *
Minotaur I The Minotaur I, or just Minotaur is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minuteman II missile. It is used to launch small satellites for the US Government, and is a member of the Minotaur family of rockets produced by Orbital Sci ...
(2000–present) *
Minotaur II Minotaur II rockets consist of the M55A1 first stage and SR19AJ1 second stage of a decommissioned LGM-30 Minuteman, Minuteman missile. The third stage varies depending on the configuration required for the payload: a Minuteman II M57A1 stage is use ...
(2000–present) *
Atlas III The Atlas III (known as the Atlas II-AR (R for Russian) early in development ) was an American orbital launch vehicle, used in the years between 2000 and 2005. It was developed from the highly successful Atlas II rocket and shared many componen ...
(2000–2005) *
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture be ...
(2002–present) *
Delta IV Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta (rocket family), Delta rocket family introduced in the early 2000s. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the National Security Space Launch, ...
(2002–present) * Falcon 1 (2006-2009) *
Ares I Ares I was the crew launch vehicle that was being developed by NASA as part of the Constellation program. The name "Ares" refers to the Greek deity Ares, who is identified with the Roman god Mars. Ares I was originally known as the "Crew Launch ...
(2009) ;2010s *
Minotaur IV Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying ...
(2010–present) * Falcon 9 (2010–present) * Antares (2013–present) *
Minotaur V The Minotaur V is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minotaur IV, itself a derivative of the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, (now absorbed into Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems) ...
(2013-present) * New Shepard (2015-present) *
Electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no kn ...
(2017–present) * Falcon Heavy (2018–present) ;2020s *
Rocket 3 Rocket 3 may refer to: * Triumph Rocket III, a motorcycle by Triumph Motorcycles Ltd * Triumph Rocket 3, the successor of Triumph Rocket III * BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident The Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 was a technically advanced, high- ...
(2020-2022) * LauncherOne (2020–present) *
Firefly Alpha Firefly Alpha (Firefly α) is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle developed by the American company Firefly Aerospace to compete in the commercial small satellite launch market. Alpha is intended to provide launch options for both ...
(2021-present) *
Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
(2022-present) * RS1 (2023-present) *
Terran 1 Terran 1 is an expendable two-stage small-lift launch vehicle developed by Relativity Space since 2017 and expected to make its first flight in January 2023. Unique to Relativity, most structures and components in the vehicle are manufactured w ...
(2023) * SpaceX Starship (2023-present) *
Vulcan Centaur Vulcan Centaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle that is under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2014 with an initial flight expected in early 2023. It is principally designed to meet launch demands for the ...
(Under development, expected 2023) *
New Glenn New Glenn is a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle in development by Blue Origin. Named after NASA astronaut John Glenn, design work on the vehicle began in 2012. Illustrations of the vehicle, and the high-level specifications, were initial ...
(Under development, expected 2023) * Rocket 4 (Under development, expected 2023) *
Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...
(Under development, expected 2024) *
Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...
(Under development, expected 2024) *
Terran R Terran R is a medium-lift two-stage, fully reusable launch vehicle under development by Relativity Space. The vehicle is primarily constructed with 3D printing technologies, much like its predecessor, the small-lift Terran 1. Description Terra ...
(Under development, expected 2026)


Sounding rockets

;1940s * WAC Corporal (1945–1947) *
Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
(1947–1957) * Aerobee (1947–1958) * Bumper-WAC (1948-1950) ;1950s *
Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...
(1955–2001) *
Asp Asp may refer to: Places * Asp, part of Densbüren, Aargau, Switzerland * Aspe (''Asp'' in Valencian), Alicante, Spain * Asp Lake, a lake in Minnesota Animals * Asp (fish) * Asp (snake), in antiquity, one of several venomous snakes ** ''Cera ...
(1955–1962) *
Jupiter-C The Jupiter-C was an American research and development vehicle developed from the Jupiter-A. Jupiter-C was used for three unmanned sub-orbital spaceflights in 1956 and 1957 to test re-entry nosecones that were later to be deployed on the more a ...
(1956–1957) * Skylark (1957–2005) *
Arcas In Greek mythology, Arcas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀρκάς) was a hunter who became king of Arcadia. He was remembered for having taught people the arts of weaving and baking bread and for spreading agriculture to Arcadia. Family Arcas was the so ...
(1959–1991) *
Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
(1959–1976) ;1960s *
Astrobee Astrobee is the designation of series of American sounding rockets with 1 - 3 stages. Aerojet-designed family of sounding rockets conceived as a lower-cost replacement of the liquid-propellant Aerobee. Several versions were realized: * The ...
(1960–1983) * Nike Apache (1961–1978) *
Thor DSV-2 The Thor DSV-2 was a series of sounding rockets, test vehicles, and anti-satellite weapons derived from the Thor Intermediate-range ballistic missile. It was also used as the first stage of several Thor-derived expendable launch systems. Variants ...
(1962–1975) * Hopi Dart (1963–1964) ;2000's * Mesquito (2008–present) *
ALV X-1 ALV X-1 was the first and only flight of the ATK Launch Vehicle (ALV) sounding rocket developed by Alliant Techsystems. The launch occurred from LP-0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. This mission ...
(2008)


References

{{NASA space program
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...