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Spaceships and Rockets

Learn more about spaceships and rockets enabled by NASA.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Space Stations

From low Earth orbit to the Moon, these space stations are the ultimate homes away from home.

International Space Station with Earth in the background

International Space Station

Humanity's home and laboratory off Earth.

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An illustration of the Starlab space station, from Nanoracks, Voyager Space, and Lockheed Martin,

Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations

The future of off-Earth research.

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Illustration of Gateway in lunar orbit. Gateway is made up of several modules to provide power, habitation, and science facilities in lunar orbit.

Gateway

Humanity's first space station in lunar orbit.

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Spaceships and Rockets

What is a rocket?

A rocket is used to carry a spacecraft from Earth’s surface to space, usually to low Earth orbit or beyond, and is sometimes called a launch vehicle.

Although rockets may appear similar, no two are alike because they are complex devices with millions of pieces and systems that must be calculated and constructed to work together. A rocket is chosen based on the spacecraft’s mission requirements. For example, the farther away from Earth the spacecraft needs to go, the bigger and more powerful the rocket needs to be.

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard is seen in this 2 minute and 30 second exposure photograph as it launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Lucy will be the first spacecraft to study Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids. Like the mission's namesake – the fossilized human ancestor, "Lucy," whose skeleton provided unique insight into humanity's evolution – Lucy will revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard is seen in this 2 minute and 30 second exposure photograph as it launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA/Bill Ingalls

Space Launch System

Combining power and capability, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and Artemis. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and cargo directly to the Moon in a single launch.

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NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is illuminated by spotlights atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continued Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SLS and Orion arrived at the launch pad on Friday, Nov. 4, after a nearly nine-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Commercial Crew Rockets

These commercial rockets are launching crews to low Earth orbit through partnerships with NASA.

A new generation of rockets capable of carrying astronauts to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station provides expanded utility, additional research time, and broader opportunities for discovery on the orbiting laboratory.

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With a view of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at left, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
With a view of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at left, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 23, 2021, carrying the company’s Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule.
NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Spaceships and Rockets

What is a spacecraft?

A spacecraft is a vehicle that flies in space. It can carry astronauts, cargo, or instruments to their destination, or it can be the destination. The International Space Station is a spacecraft, just like the smaller vehicles that deliver crew and cargo to it.

Spacecraft launch on rockets and have their own propulsion and navigation systems that take over after they separate from the rocket, propelling them to other worlds in our solar system. Their main purpose lies in transporting payloads — or anything within the vehicle beyond what is essential to operate in space — to their destination. For example, for the Artemis II Moon mission, a human crew and other experiments will be carried aboard the Orion spacecraft.

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A camera mounted on one of Orion’s four solar arrays captured this image of the Moon on flight day 17 of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission from a distance of more than 222,000 miles. Orion has exited the distant lunar orbit and is heading for a Dec. 11 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
A camera mounted on one of Orion’s four solar arrays captured this image of the Moon on flight day 17 of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission from a distance of more than 222,000 miles.
NASA

Orion Spacecraft

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before. On Artemis missions, Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System.

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At 12:40 p.m. EST, Dec. 11, 2022, NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a 25.5 day mission to the Moon. Orion will be recovered by NASA’s Landing and Recovery team, U.S. Navy and Department of Defense partners aboard the USS Portland.

Commercial Cargo Spacecraft

These spacecraft are carrying cargo and scientific investigations to and from the space station.

Commercial resupply missions are changing the way NASA does business, helping to build a strong American commercial space industry and freeing the agency to focus on developing the next-generation rocket and spacecraft that will allow us to travel farther in space than ever before.

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The Canadarm2 robotic arm grips Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter as the International Space Station orbits 262 miles above the north Atlantic Ocean.
The Canadarm2 robotic arm grips Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter as the International Space Station orbits 262 miles above the north Atlantic Ocean.
Credits: NASA

Ride to the moon?

Human Landing Systems

Bringing astronauts from orbit around the Moon onto lunar soil

NASA’s commercial providers, Blue Origin and SpaceX, are building the human landing systems that will carry Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface and back to lunar orbit for their ride home to Earth aboard Orion. 

Commercial Human Landers about Human Landing Systems
Side-by-side illustrations of the SpaceX Starship lunar lander and the Blue Origin Blue Moon lunar lander. Each is on the lunar surface, with astronauts nearby and Earth in the distance.
Side-by-side illustrations of the SpaceX Starship lunar lander and the Blue Origin Blue Moon lunar lander.
SpaceX/Blue Origin

Gateway Deep Space Logistics

As astronauts conduct missions at Gateway and prepare for lunar surface missions, they will need deliveries of critical pressurized and unpressurized cargo, science experiments, and supplies like sample collection materials. In March 2020, NASA announced SpaceX as the first U.S. commercial provider under the Gateway Logistics Services contract to deliver cargo and other supplies to Gateway.

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NASA illustration of Gateway in lunar orbit with PPE and HALO and the SpaceX Dragon XL logistics module on approach to docking.
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