Aldrin Looks Back at Tranquility Base - GPN-2000-001102

This is a list of all crewed spacecraft types that have flown into space, including sub-orbital flights above 80 km, space stations that have been visited by at least one crew member, and spacecraft currently planned to operate with crews in the future. It does not contain spacecraft that have only flown uncrewed and have retired from service, even if they were designed for crewed flight, such as Buran, or crewed flights by spacecraft below 80 km. There is some debate concerning the height at which space is reached (the Karman Line): the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) recognizes 100 km, while

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and the

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

recognize this as 50 miles (approx 80 km). Since the first crewed spaceflight of Vostok 1 in 1961 there have been 13 types of spacecraft that have made crewed flights into space – nine American, three Russian, and one Chinese. There are currently five operational crewed spacecraft, which form the first part of the list below; the eight retired spacecraft types are listed in the next section; and crewed spacecraft currently in development are listed last. Space stations are listed beneath each appropriate section, dates of operation reflect when the first and last crews visited, not when they were launched and deorbited. There are currently two space stations in orbit around Earth, the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

and the Chinese

Tiangong space station Tiangong (), officially the ''Tiangong'' space station (), is a permanently crewed space station constructed by China and operated by China Manned Space Agency. Tiangong is a modular design, with modules docked together while in low Earth o ...

. Manned spacecraft are designed to support human life for the human spaceflight portion of the mission. Spacecraft for human spaceflight must have a human-rating certification as fit for purpose. Manned spacecraft must have a pressurized, breathable atmosphere (usually between 345 mbar and 1 bar (1

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

)) and be temperature-regulated (usually ). Manned spacecraft include

space capsule A space capsule is a spacecraft designed to transport cargo, scientific experiments, and/or astronauts to and from space. Capsules are distinguished from other spacecraft by the ability to survive reentry and return a payload to the Earth's surfa ...

spaceplane A spaceplane is a vehicle that can flight, fly and gliding flight, glide as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and function as a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbit ...

s, and

space station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...

Currently operational crewed spacecraft

Soyuz (1967)

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n three person Earth orbital spacecraft; Early versions were operated by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and later versions by

after 1991.

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Soviet Union, Union of Soviet Socialist Republi ...

has completed over 150 crewed spaceflights, including two emergency sub-orbital flights: Soyuz 18a and Soyuz MS-10. There have been two spacecraft losses resulting in the deaths of four cosmonauts, Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11. Soyuz is the only spacecraft to have successfully saved the lives of a crew using the rocket launch escape system, when in 1983 Soyuz T-10-1 exploded on the launchpad. This spacecraft type has flown into space more times than any other spacecraft.

Shenzhou (2003)

Chinese three-person Earth orbital spacecraft. Shenzhou is

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's first crewed spacecraft. On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei was carried into space by

Shenzhou 5 Shenzhou 5 (, see ) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou (spacecraft), Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous fl ...

becoming China's first Taikonaut. The spacecraft has gone on to fly crews to China's Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space labs. Since Jun 2021, Shenzhou has been used as the vehicle to send crews to China's new modular

and back. As of December 2023, Shenzhou has made 12 successful crewed spaceflights.

Crew Dragon (2020)

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

four-person (initially seven) Earth orbital spacecraft designed by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

to transport astronauts to the

under the

Commercial Crew Contract ( CCDev). As of April 2025, Crew Dragon has made 17 crewed spaceflights. The first crewed flight, Crew Dragon Demo-2, launched on 30 May 2020 and returned to Earth on 2 August 2020. This was the first time an American spacecraft had sent astronauts to orbit since the final Space Shuttle flight in July 2011. The first operational flight of the Crew Dragon launched on 15 November 2020 with SpaceX Crew-1.

New Shepard (2021)

New Shepard is a six-person capsule for suborbital space tourism in the

. It is launched by a reusable booster and can fly with or without crew. Uncrewed flights started in 2015. The first crewed test flight flew on 20 July 2021. As of December 2023 there have been 24 flights, including six crewed flights carrying a total of 32 passengers into space.

Starliner (2024)

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is a United States five-person (initially seven) Earth orbital spacecraft designed to transport astronauts to the

under the

Commercial Crew Program The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides Private spaceflight, commercially operated human spaceflight, crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA, conducting crew rotations between t ...

. Following several technical problems 1 on the first uncrewed test flight in December 2019, a second uncrewed test flight launched in May 2022. The following crewed flight test (CFT) launched in June 2024, carrying astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station. After experiencing thruster issues during its approach and docking, the astronauts successfully completed their mission at the ISS and departed the station. Due to ongoing assessments and mission adjustments, the Starliner landed uncrewed. The Crew-9 mission, carrying astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida on March 18, 2025. This landing marked the end of a long space saga for Williams and Wilmore, who arrived at the ISS aboard the Starliner.

Currently operational space stations

International Space Station (ISS) (1998)

Multinational

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

modular space station. The International Space Station is a joint project among five participating space agencies:

, Roscosmos,

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

(ESA), and

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; ) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The President of the Canadian Space Agency, president is Lisa Campbell (civil servant), Lisa Campbell, who took ...

(CSA). Following the uncrewed initial assembly from 1998 to 2000, it has been continuously crewed since November 2000. As of 4 March 2024, ISS has been visited by 111 crewed spacecraft (68 Soyuz, 35 Space Shuttle, and 9 Crew Dragon). The ISS is the largest space station yet constructed. It is planned to operate until 2028, with a possible extension to 2030.

Tiangong Space Station (2021)

Chinese low Earth orbit modular space station. The ''Tianhe'' core module was launched on 29 April 2021. The first crewed flight Shenzhou 12 with 3 astronauts arrived at the station in June 2021. The space station has three modules: the ''Tianhe'' core module, and two Laboratory Cabin Modules. The ''Wentian'' module docked with the station on 24 July 2022, and the ''Mengtian'' module docked on 31 October 2022.

Former crewed spacecraft

Vostok (1961–1963)

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

single-person Earth orbital spacecraft 6 flights. On 12 April 1961 Vostok 1 carried the first human into space,

Cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Yuri Gagarin. On 16 June 1963, Vostok 6 carried the first woman into space, Cosmonaut

Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, member of the State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut. She was the first Women in space, woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. S ...

Mercury (1961–1963)

single-person Earth orbital spacecraft 6 flights (including 2 sub-orbital). Mercury was the United States first crewed spacecraft. On 5 May 1961

Mercury-Redstone 3 Mercury-Redstone 3, or ''Freedom 7'', was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an astr ...

carried the first American, Alan Shepard, into space on a sub-orbital flight. On 20 February 1962, Mercury-Atlas 6 carried the first American,

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1 ...

, into Earth orbit.

X-15 (1962–1968)

single seat, air-launched sub-orbital spaceplane; two X-15 flights above the 100 km

Kármán line The Kármán line (or von Kármán line ) is a conventional definition of the Outer space#Boundary, edge of space; it is widely but not universally accepted. The international record-keeping body Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI ( ...

occurred in 1963, an additional 11 flights between 1962 and 1968 reached altitudes between 80 and 100 km which were recognized as spaceflights by U.S. authorities.

Voskhod (1964–1965)

three person Vostok derivative made 2 flights. On 18 March 1965, Alexei Leonov performed the first spacewalk in history, from Voskhod 2.

Gemini (1965–1966)

two person Earth orbital spacecraft which made 10 flights. On 3 June 1965, Ed White made America's first spacewalk during

Gemini 4 Gemini 4 (officially Gemini IV) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was the second crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini, occurring in June 1965. It was the tenth crewed American spaceflight (in ...

Apollo (1968–1975)

Apollo 17 Command Module AS17-145-22261HR

three-person lunar-capable spacecraft. 15 flights; including nine lunar missions (with six lunar landings). It was the Apollo spacecraft that enabled America to win the

Space Race The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...

. In December 1968,

Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times ...

was the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon. On 21 July 1969,

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

, the Commander of

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

, and

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin ( ; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three extravehicular activity, spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eag ...

became the first men to walk on the Moon. The Apollo Spacecraft comprised: * The

Apollo command and service module The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo (spacecraft), Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functi ...

(1968–1975), three-person Earth and lunar orbital craft * The

Apollo Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed sp ...

(1969–1972), two-person lunar lander

Space Shuttle (1981–2011)

eight person Earth orbital spacecraft; first orbit-capable

; first reusable orbital spacecraft. Largest cargo capacity to orbit at the time. 135 spaceflights were made in six shuttles; '' Enterprise, Columbia'', '' Challenger'', ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'', '' Atlantis'', and '' Endeavour'', of which two (''Challenger'' and ''Columbia'') were destroyed resulting in the deaths of 14 astronauts during missions

STS-51-L STS-51-L was the disastrous 25th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the final flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. It was planned as the first Teacher in Space Project flight in addition to observing Halley's Comet for six day ...

and STS-107.

SpaceShipOne (2004)

privately-developed single pilot, air-launched sub-orbital spaceplane; three flights above the

occurred in 2004.

SpaceShipTwo (2018-2024)

eight person air-launched sub-orbital space plane operated by

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate, which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and opera ...

aimed at the

space tourism Space tourism is human space travel for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism. Tourists are motivated by the possibility of viewing Earth from space, ...

market. On 31 October 2014 during a test flight, VSS ''Enterprise'', the first SpaceShipTwo craft, broke up in flight and crashed in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

. One pilot was killed. The second SpaceShipTwo craft, VSS ''Unity'', was completed in 2016 and used until its retirement in 2024. On 13 December 2018, SpaceShipTwo flew to an altitude of 82.7 km, which is recognized as space by the FAA,

, and the

(although not the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale). This was the first time an American spacecraft had sent astronauts to space since the final Space Shuttle flight in 2011. On 11 July 2021 a fourth test flight was made above 80 km with six crew aboard, including the company owner

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

. SpaceShipTwo made 12 successful crewed spaceflights in 13 attempts. The last flight of VSS ''Unity'' took place on 8 June 2024, marking the spacecraft's retirement.

Former space stations

Salyut (1971–1986)

space stations.

Salyut 1 Salyut 1 (), also known as DOS-1 (Durable Orbital Station 1), was the world's first space station. It was launched into low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The Salyut programme, ''Salyut'' program subsequently achieved five m ...

(1 crew 1971), Salyut 4 (2 crews 1975), Salyut 6 (6 crews 1977–1981), and Salyut 7 (12 crews 1982–1986). All now de-orbited.

Almaz (1974–1977)

military reconnaissance low Earth orbit space stations. Badged as Salyut 3 (1 crew 1974), and Salyut 5 (2 crews 1976–1977), as disinformation. Both now deorbited.

Skylab (1973–1974)

low Earth orbit space station. First United States space station. Visited by 3 crews 1973–1974. It deorbited in 1979.

Mir (1986–2000)

n low Earth orbit modular space station. The first modular space station in history. Twenty-eight crews 1986–2000. ''Mir'' was visited by 29 Soyuz and 7 Space Shuttle missions. Mir was deorbited in 2001.

Tiangong program (2012–2016)

Chinese low Earth orbit space laboratories. Tiangong 1 was China's first space station; launched in 2011, visited by two crews 2012–2013, deorbited in 2018. Tiangong 2 was launched in 2016, visited by one crew in 2016, deorbited in 2019. Both vehicles were single-module laboratories, precursors to the modular

, which has modules derived from Tiangong 1 and 2.

Crewed spacecraft in development

Orion

A spacecraft capable of lunar missions with a crew of four, planned to be used as part of

Artemis program The Artemis program is a Exploration of the Moon, Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formally established in 2017 via Space Policy Directive 1. The program's stated long-ter ...

. Consisting of two components – a Crew Module (CM) manufactured by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

, and a

European Service Module The European Service Module (ESM) is the service module component of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft, serving as its primary power and propulsion component until it is discarded at the end of each mission. In January 2013, NASA announced ...

(ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space – the spacecraft are designed to support crewed exploration beyond

. Orion is equipped with

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

, an automated docking system, and

glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features an array of electronic (digital) flight instrument display device, displays, typically large liquid-crystal display, LCD screens, rather than traditional Analog device, analog dials and gauges ...

interfaces modeled after those used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and can support a crew of six in low Earth orbit and a crew of four in lunar orbit, up to 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. A single AJ10 engine provides the spacecraft's primary propulsion, while eight R-4D-11 engines and six pods of custom

reaction control system A reaction control system (RCS) is a spacecraft system that uses Thrusters (spacecraft), thrusters to provide Spacecraft attitude control, attitude control and translation (physics), translation. Alternatively, reaction wheels can be used for at ...

(RCS) engines developed by

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

provide the spacecraft's secondary propulsion. Although compatible with other

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

s, Orion is primarily designed to launch atop the

Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American Super heavy-lift launch vehicle, super heavy-lift Expendable launch system, expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. As the primary launch vehicle of the Artemis program, Artemis Moon landing progra ...

(SLS) rocket. The first mission on that flew a fully configured Orion spacecraft and service module was

Artemis I Artemis I, formerly Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), was an uncrewed Lunar orbit, Moon-orbiting mission that was launched in November 2022. As the first major spaceflight of NASA's Artemis program, Artemis I marked the agency's return to lunar e ...

. This flight, however, was not a crewed mission and served the purpose of testing the systems of the spacecraft in the environment it was designed for. The first crewed mission Artemis II is planned for 2026 and will slingshot around the Moon. The following crewed Artemis III flight is planned for 2027 and will be a lunar landing mission.

Starship

Planned to be a fully reusable interplanetary spacecraft capable of carrying 100 passengers or cargo. Primarily designed for

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

missions it is to be capable of landing on all rocky planets or moons in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

except

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

. For

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

launches Starship will need a two-stage configuration with the addition of a powerful first stage booster called Super-Heavy. Flights from all other planetary bodies will not require a first stage booster. Starship will require refuelling in Earth orbit to enable it to reach other Solar System destinations.. Uncrewed test flights commenced in 2020 from Boca Chica, Texas. A custom crewed lunar version of Starship— Starship HLS—was selected in 2021 from three companies that developed design proposals for NASA's Human Landing System for

, with a view to land one uncrewed mission plus one crewed mission on the Moon no earlier than 2025. SpaceX plans at least six variants of Starship, two of them intended to carry crew: Cargo flights, crewed flights (except HLS), a fuel depot, a tanker version, expendable starships, and HLS.

Gaganyaan

A three-person Earth orbital spacecraft intended to be the first crewed spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. Gaganyaan will be capable of operating at

for up to seven days. The upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capabilities. Its first crewed flight is planned for first quarter of 2027, and four Indian astronauts have begun flight training in Russia.

Mengzhou

The Mengzhou spacecraft, developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) is a six-person, partially reusable lunar-capable spacecraft, aiming to succeed the Shenzhou. An uncrewed test flight took place on 5 May 2020, with a crewed flight to

low earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

possible by 2027 using a two-stage variant of the under-development Long March 10 rocket. Lunar missions by the new spacecraft are expected in the 2030s with an initial lunar mission possible by 2030. A new Chinese crewed lunar lander called Lanyue is also currently under-development by the China Academy of Space Technology.

Dream Chaser

seven-person Earth orbital space plane. An uncrewed cargo version is scheduled to fly in space in 2025, with a crewed version to eventually follow.

Orel

n four-person lunar-capable spacecraft to enable the retirement of Soyuz. The first uncrewed and crewed flight is planned for 2028.

Crewed spacecraft (planned)

* The Chinese company Space Transportation is developing a winged rocket for suborbital space tourism. As of January 2022, the first flight is planned for 2024. * Copenhagen Suborbitals Tycho Brahe Micro Spacecraft (MSC) – a non-profit, all-volunteer project that aims to launch the first crewed amateur spacecraft into suborbital space. The project is being financed entirely through crowd-funding. If successful, this project will also make Denmark one of the few countries in the world that has a form of independent crewed spaceflight capabilities. * Dynetics HLS, a planned

-contracted Human Landing System to be used on and around the Moon for NASA's

being developed by

Dynetics Dynetics is an American applied science and information technology company headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Its primary customers are the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Intelligence Community, and National Ae ...

and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). Was not selected for HLS program. * Integrated Lander Vehicle – a planned NASA-contracted,

Blue Origin Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operates the suborbital New Shepard rocket and the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. In addition to producing engines for its own ...

lead, Human Landing System to be used on and around the Moon for

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

, and Draper Laboratory are also developing key features of the vehicle. Was not selected for HLS program. * Pegasus is a Japanese sub-orbital rocket plane currently being developed by PD AeroSpace. * RSSC – a Russian reusable sub-orbital space complex, currently being developed by a private company KosmoKurs. * Selena – NPO Aerospace Technologies (НПО «Авиационно-космические технологии»), suborbital space yacht. *

Susie Susie is a female name that can be a diminutive form of Susan, Susanne, Suzanne, Susannah, Susanna or Susana. Susie may refer to: Songs *"Susie", a song by Krokus from '' Painkiller'' *"Susie", a song by John Lee Hooker from the album '' ...

– Smart Upper Stage for Innovative Exploration – a 2022

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...

proposal for a fully reusable five-person craft for use by ESA for low earth orbit. * Lince is a project by the Spanish company PLD Space currently under development. It aims to create a cargo and crewed capsule capable of carrying up to four or five astronauts to low Earth orbit.

Space stations in development

* Gateway – A

driven, under construction, international crewed space station orbiting the Moon to be assembled by commercial launch vehicles starting from 2027. * Russian Orbital Service Station – Russia's planned next generation space station, designed and intended to replace the

Russian Orbital Segment The Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) is the name given to the components of the International Space Station (ISS) constructed in Russia and operated by the Russian Roscosmos. The ROS handles Guidance, Navigation, and Control for the entire Station ...

of the International Space Station. * Axiom Station is a planned private space station by the company Axiom Space. It is intended to be operational before the ISS is decommissioned in 2030, with the first module launching no earlier than 2027. * Starlab is a planned private space station being developed by the company Nanoracks in cooperation with

. This free-flying space station was announced by the company on October 21, 2021, with a planned launch date of 2028. * Orbital Reef is a planned private space station currently in development by

and Sierra Nevada Corporation. This modular space station is being designed for commercial and space tourism missions and uses. Preliminary plans were unveiled on October 25, 2021, with a planned launch in the late 2020s. * Haven-1 is a space station being developed by Vast. It is expected to be launched by the end of 2025. * Bharatiya Antariksha Station - The Indian Orbital Space Station, officially called Bharatiya Antariksha Station (lit. 'Indian Space Station'), is a planned modular space station to be constructed by India and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). As of December 2023, the first module is expected to be launched in 2028 on an LVM3 launch vehicle, with the remaining modules to be launched by 2035.

Cancelled crewed spacecraft and space stations

SpaceShip III SpaceShip III (SS3, also with Roman numeral: SSIII; formerly SpaceShipThree) was a planned class of spaceplanes by Virgin Galactic to follow SpaceShipTwo. It was first teased on the Virgin Galactic Twitter account on 25 February 2021 announcing t ...

, American eight-person suborbital spaceplane for use in space tourism and tended research flights * The X-20 Dyna-Soar was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

spaceplane intended to be used for military missions. The program to develop the spaceplane began in 1957 and was cancelled in 1963. * MOL, crewed space station operated by the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

derived from the

's Gemini spacecraft. Cancelled in 1969. * LK, crewed Lunar lander for the

Soviet crewed lunar programs The Soviet crewed lunar programs were a series of programs pursued by the Soviet Union to Moon landing, land humans on the Moon, Space Race, in competition with the United States Apollo program. The Soviet government publicly denied participat ...

. Several LK landers were flown in space with no crew. Cancelled in 1976 with the rest of the program. * CSTS, a proposed collaborative effort between the European Space Agency and Roscosmos. Originally designed as an answer to the Orion program of NASA, the project was eventually cancelled and most of the designs were incorporated into Russia's next generation crewed spacecraft:

Orel (spacecraft) Orel () or Oryol, formerly Federation (), and PPTS (), is a project by Roscosmos to develop a new-generation, partially Reusable launch system, reusable Spacecraft#Crewed spacecraft, crewed spacecraft. Until 2016, the official name was () or PT ...

. *

OPSEK The Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex (, ''Orbital'nyj Pilotirujemyj Sborochno-Eksperimental'nyj Kompleks''; ОПСЭК, OPSEK) was a 2009–2017 proposed third-generation Russian space program, Russian modular space station fo ...

was a proposed successor to Russia's involvement in the International Space Station Program. Cancelled in 2017 by Roscosmos. *

Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila (constellation), Aquila and the list of brightest stars, twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinisation of name ...

, (also known as the "Lunar Surface Access Module" or "LSAM" for short) was the planned lunar lander component of the

Constellation Program The Constellation program (abbreviated CxP) was a crewed spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were "completion of the International Space Station" and a " ...

. It would've been launched on the Ares V cargo launch vehicle and it, alongside an Earth Departure Stage would've awaited an Orion Spacecraft to launch and rendezvous with the spacecraft before the EDS sends it and Orion to the Moon with a crew of 4 astronauts for a lunar landing mission. Cancelled in 2010 alongside the rest of the Constellation program. * Bigelow Commercial Space Station or ''Space Complex Alpha'', was a proposed private space habitat scheduled for 2021 initial deployment although this was suspended indefinitely as a result of Bigelow temporarily laying off their entire staff due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. A Bigelow test module has been installed on the

since 2016.

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* {{Solar System *

Crewed spacecraft This is a list of all crewed spacecraft types that have flown into space, including sub-orbital flights above 80 km, space stations that have been visited by at least one crew member, and spacecraft currently planned to operate with crews ...

Solar System