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Launch Services Program Rockets

Northrop Grumman

Antares

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket is a two-stage vehicle with optional third stage that provides low-Earth orbit launch capability for payloads weighing up to 8,000 kg. Today the rocket is primarily used to support the company’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

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A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen at sunrise as the Moon sets Feb. 9, 2020.
Northrop Grumman’s 13th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.
NASA
United Launch Alliance

Atlas V

Atlas V uses a standard common core booster, up to five solid rocket boosters (SRBs), a Centaur upper stage in a single- or dual-engine configuration, and one of several sizes of payload fairings.

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Its motors blazing, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle carrying NASA's Juno planetary probe is off to a roaring start after lifting off from Space Launch Complex 41.
Its motors blazing, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle carrying NASA’s Juno planetary probe is off to a roaring start on its five-year journey to Jupiter from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
NASA
Rocket Lab

Electron

Rocket Lab's Electron is the only reusable orbital-class small rocket. Capturing and reflying Electron’s first stage enables higher launch frequency without expanding production and lowers launch costs.

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Rocket Lab's Electron rocket is seen at Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand.
A wet dress rehearsal is underway for Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket at Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on April 28, 2023. NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) CubeSats are secured in the payload fairing atop the rocket.
Rocket Lab
SpaceX

Falcon 9

Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.

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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft onboard, is seen during sunrise, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft onboard, is seen during sunrise, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
NASA
SpaceX

Falcon Heavy

Falcon Heavy is composed of three reusable Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. As one of the world’s most powerful operational rockets, Falcon Heavy can lift nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lbs.) to orbit.

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NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida.
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida at 10:19 a.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023.
SpaceX
Northrop Grumman

Pegasus XL

The three-stage Pegasus XL rocket is used to deploy small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds (453.59 kg) into low-Earth orbit. Pegasus is carried aloft by the Stargazer L-1011 aircraft to approximately 40,000 feet over open ocean, where it is released and free-falls five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. With its unique delta-shaped wing, Pegasus typically delivers satellites into orbit in a little over 10 minutes.

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The Stargazer aircraft, with Pegasus XL beneath, containing NASA's ICON, on the Skid Strip at CCAFS in Florida.
NASA, Northrop Grumman Continue Preparations for ICON
NASA