—

Saturn V · 1967 · NASA / North American · 13 flights
The largest rocket ever flown operationally. Built for Apollo, it delivered 12 astronauts to the lunar surface across 6 landings. All 13 missions were successful. Its five F-1 engines remain the highest-thrust single-chamber liquid engines ever flown. Final mission launched Skylab in 1973.

Space Shuttle · 1981 · NASA / Rockwell · 135 missions
The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft. Served for 30 years deploying satellites, building the ISS, and servicing Hubble. Two hull losses: Challenger (1986, SRB O-ring failure at launch) and Columbia (2003, foam strike / re-entry breakup). 14 crew lost total. Retired 2011.

SLS Block 1 · 2022 · NASA / Boeing · 1 flight
The Shuttle-derived heavy-lift vehicle for Artemis. Uses four RS-25 engines (ex-SSME) and twin 5-segment SRBs derived from Shuttle hardware. Maiden flight (Artemis I, Nov 2022) sent an uncrewed Orion on a 25-day lunar free-return. Most powerful rocket at liftoff until Starship.

Falcon 9 · 2010 · SpaceX · 400+ flights
The workhorse of modern spaceflight. First orbital-class booster to land and re-fly. Block 5 boosters have individually flown 20+ times. Carries crew (Dragon), cargo, and the Starlink constellation. One in-flight failure (CRS-7, 2015). Highest cadence of any active vehicle at 90+ launches/year.

Vulcan Centaur · 2024 · ULA · 2 flights
ULA's replacement for Atlas V and Delta IV. Pairs two BE-4 methalox engines (first flight use of Blue Origin's engine) with the proven Centaur V upper stage. Maiden flight (Cert-1, Jan 2024) delivered Peregrine to TLI. Designed for NSSL Phase 2 national security missions.

New Glenn · 2025 · Blue Origin · 1 flight
Blue Origin's heavy-lift orbital vehicle, named for John Glenn. First stage powered by seven BE-4 engines and designed for 25+ reuses with powered vertical landing. 7-meter fairing offers the largest payload volume in its class. First launch in 2025 reached orbit on its maiden attempt.

Starship · 2023 · SpaceX · in test flights
The largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Fully reusable two-stage system: Super Heavy booster (33 Raptors, 80+ MN liftoff thrust) and Starship upper stage (6 Raptors). Stainless steel construction. Designed for 100+ t to LEO, lunar landing (HLS), Mars colonization, and point-to-point Earth transport. Booster caught by launch tower chopstick arms on Flight 5 (Oct 2024).