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Reusable spacecraft

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about reusable spacecraft. For distinct launch systems, see Reusable launch system.
Space Shuttle Endeavour landing from orbit on STS-126, its 22nd spaceflight

Reusable spacecraft are spacecraft capable of repeated launch, atmospheric reentry, and landing or splashdown. This contrasts with expendable spacecraft which are designed to be discarded after use. Agencies operating reusable spacecraft aim to have lower costs and higher flight frequencies.[1]

Reusable spacecraft may be crewed or uncrewed and orbital or sub-orbital. Examples include spaceplanes such as the Space Shuttle and the Boeing X-37B, and space capsules such as the SpaceX Dragon. The Blue Origin New Shepard is an example of a sub-orbital spacecraft.

History

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Gemini paraglider during tests at Edwards Air Force Base in August 1964; glider landings were canceled in favor of parachute splashdowns.

On July 17, 1962, the North American X-15 rocket plane reached an altitude of 95.9km on a sub-orbital flight. In 1963, the X-15 completed two flights above 100km.[2] These marked the first spaceflights with a reusable vehicle.[a] The Gemini SC-2 capsule followed, making a sub-orbital flight in 1965 and another sub-orbital flight in 1966.[3]

The first spacecraft to be reused in orbit was the Soviet VA spacecraft, a capsule that was part of the larger TKS spacecraft. A VA capsule that launched in 1977 was reflown in 1978.[4]

The Space Shuttle was the first orbital spacecraft designed for reuse according to NASA, and first launched in 1981.[5] Five orbiters would launch 135 times before the vehicle's retirement in 2011. As of December 2024, Space Shuttle Discovery holds the record for the most spaceflights by a single spacecraft at 39.[6] The Space Shuttle program, however, faced criticism that it failed to reduce the cost of access to space and had safety concerns following the Challenger and Columbia disasters.[7][8]

The SpaceX Dragon 1 first flew in 2010, and became the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to be recovered from orbit. In 2012, Dragon became the first commercial vehicle to attach to the International Space Station (ISS), after which it conducted regular cargo resupply flights for NASA.[9] Its first reuse was in 2017,[10] and the vehicle led to the development of the Dragon 2, which first reached orbit in 2019. Dragon 2 carries both cargo and crew, and has been described as the most cost-effective spacecraft ever used by NASA.[11] In 2021, Dragon 2 conducted the first orbital flight with only private astronauts onboard.[12]

SpaceShipOne, another rocket plane, completed the first private sub-orbital spaceflight in 2004 and led to the development of SpaceShipTwo. The Blue Origin New Shepard capsule conducts commercial sub-orbital spaceflights, as did SpaceShipTwo.[b]

Development flights for SpaceX Starship test vehicles began in 2019. Starship is intended to be both a fully reusable spacecraft and launch vehicle.[c] Starship's first integrated launch with its booster was in 2023, and it reached space the same year. In 2024, Starship successfully reentered the atmosphere and completed propulsive splashdowns in the Indian Ocean, although as of December 2024 it has not been recovered from space intact.

Design

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Crew Dragon Endurance being recovered after its second flight

Reusable spacecraft must survive reentry and safely return to the surface. The mass of any hardware dedicated for this reduces potential payload mass.

Atmospheric entry

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Orbital spacecraft initiate a deorbit burn and orient themselves for atmospheric entry. The Boeing Starliner and Orion discard their service modules, including their maneuvering engines. The SpaceX Dragon discards its trunk, which includes its solar panels and radiators, but retains its Draco engines in the capsule.[13] The Space Shuttle was notable for recovering the entire spacecraft.

In general, around 15% of the landed weight of a vehicle is heat shielding.[14] Thermal protection systems (TPS) can be made of a variety of materials, including reinforced carbon-carbon and ablative materials.[15] Historically, these materials were first developed on ballistic missile reentry vehicles. However, the requirements of reusable space systems differ from those of single use reentry vehicles, especially with regards to heat shield requirements. In particular the need for durable high emissivity coatings that can withstand multiple thermal cycles constitutes a key requirement in the development of new reusable spacecraft. Current materials for such high emissivity coatings include transition metal disilicides.[16]

Ablative heat shields are reliable, but are heavy and diminished with use. Reinforced carbon-carbon heat tiles such as those used on the Space Shuttle are fragile, contributing to the Columbia disaster. The Space Shuttle used the LI-900 material.

Landing and refurbishment

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Runway landings from orbit became prevelant with the introduction of the Space Shuttle. Spaceplanes that land horizontally on a runway require lifting surfaces and landing gear. Designs include the Space Shuttle's delta wing and the Dream Chaser's lifting body. Spaceplanes require access to a long enough runway, a necessary consideration for the Space Shuttle launch abort modes.

The first recoverable space capsules landed under parachute, either on land or by splashing down in a body of water. Ground landings require additional cushioning, which Starliner accomplishes with deployable airbags. This was considered for Orion as well, but was ruled out due to the extra mass required.[17] The sub-orbital New Shepard uses retro-rockets to slow down just before touchdown, a technique that has been used by the expendable Soyuz since the 1960s. Splashing down allows the water to cushion the spacecraft, but exposure to salt water can have adverse effects on the vehicle.[18][19] Despite this, SpaceX began regularly reusing Dragon capsules after splashdown.[20]

Dragon 2 was originally designed to propusively land using its SuperDraco engines; however, propulsive landings for Dragon were canceled[d] and Dragon 2 also uses parachutes to splashdown in the ocean.[22] Starship is designed to propulsively land using its Raptor engines. It aims to be "caught" by the launch tower, as is done for the Super Heavy booster. This eliminates the need for traditional landing legs on the vehicle and aims to lower the turnaround time between launches.[23]

After a spacecraft is recovered, it may need to be refurbished before its next flight. Depending on the spacecraft design, this process may be lengthy and expensive, and there may be a limit to how many times a spacecraft can be refurbished before it has to be retired.[24]

List of reusable spacecraft

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History
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Operational

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Vehicle Origin Manufacturer Orbital or sub-orbital Crew capacity Reuse Recovery method First spaceflight
Dragon 2  United States SpaceX Orbital 4-7 (crew)[25]
0 (cargo) 		Partial Parachute splashdown 2019 (crew)[26]
2020 (cargo)[27]
New Shepard  United States Blue Origin Sub-orbital 6 Full Parachute landing 2015 [28]
X-37B  United States Boeing Orbital — Full[e] Runway 2010[30]
Starliner  United States Boeing Orbital 4 Partial Parachute landing 2019[31]
Orion  United States Lockheed Martin (Crew Module)
Airbus Defense and Space (Service Module) 		Orbital 4 Partial Parachute splashdown 2014[32]
Shenlong  China Orbital — Runway 2020[33]

Under development

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Vehicle Origin Manufacturer Orbital or sub-orbital Crew capacity Reuse Recovery method Expected spaceflight
Dream Chaser  United States Sierra Space Orbital 7 (crew)
0 (cargo) 		Partial Runway TBA (crew)
2025 (cargo)
Starship  United States SpaceX Orbital 100 (crew)
0 (cargo) 		Full Propulsive landing 2024[f]
Space Rider  Europe Avio and Thales Alenia Space Orbital 2 Partial Parachute landing 2025
Mengzhou  China CAST Orbital 3-7 Partial Parachute landing 2020[g]
RLV-TD  India — Runway
Orel  Russia RKK Energia Orbital 4-6 Partial 2028
Comparison of Soyuz, Starliner, Crew Dragon, Orion, and Susie.

Retired

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Vehicle Origin Manufacturer Orbital or sub-orbital Crew capacity Reuse Recovery method First Spaceflight Retired
X-15  United States North American Aviation Sub-orbital 1 Full Runway 1962[2][h] 1968
Gemini  United States McDonnell Aircraft Orbital[i] 2 Partial Parachute splashdown 1964[34] 1966
VA spacecraft  Soviet Union NPO Mashinostroyeniya Orbital —[j] Partial Parachute 1976[35] 1985
Space Shuttle  United States Rockwell International Orbital 8 Full Runway 1981[36] 2011
Buran[k]  Soviet Union Orbital 10[l] Full Runway 1988[37] 1988
SpaceShipOne  United States Scaled Composites Sub-orbital 1 Full Runway 2004[38] 2004
Dragon 1  United States SpaceX Orbital — Partial Parachute splashdown 2010[39] 2020
SpaceShipTwo  United States Scaled Composites & The Spaceship Company Sub-orbital 6 Full Runway 2018[40][m] 2024

Proposed

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Canceled

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The United States defines spaceflight as above 80km, while 100km is internationally recognized by the FAI
  2. ^ SpaceShipTwo has exceeded altitudes of 80km, but not 100km
  3. ^ Both the spacecraft and entire launch vehicle are named Starship
  4. ^ Crew Dragon retains the ability to propulsively land in the event of parachute failure.[21]
  5. ^ The X-37 can carry an optional expendable service module[29]
  6. ^ Starship reached space in 2024, but was only partially recovered
  7. ^ A Mengzhou prototype completed an uncrewed test flight in 2020
  8. ^ The X-15 reached an altitude of 95.9km on July 17, 1962. It reached an altitude of 106.1km on July 19, 1963
  9. ^ Gemini SC-2 was used on two sub-orbital spaceflights, while the class of spacecraft was proven as orbital.[2]
  10. ^ The VA spacecraft was designed to carry crew, but this was never proven
  11. ^ Buran was designed to be reused and was recovered, but only completed one spaceflight.
  12. ^ Buran was designed to carry cosmonauts, but this was not proven
  13. ^ SpaceShipTwo exceeded an altitude of 80km, but not 100km

References

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  1. ^ Rincon, Paul (17 April 2023). "What is Elon Musk's Starship space vehicle?". BBC. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Heger, Gary (August 22, 2020). "The First Reusable Spacecraft: The X-15 Flights Above the Karman Line". Drew Ex Machina.
  3. ^ USAF (2017). "Gemini Capsule". Air Force Space and Missile Museum. Archived from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  4. ^ "Used spacecraft for sale: Soviet-era space capsule up for auction in Belgium". collectSPACE. May 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "Space Shuttle Era Facts" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Most re-used spacecraft". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  7. ^ Cegłowski, Maciej (2005-08-03). "A Rocket To Nowhere". Idle Words. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  8. ^ Wattles, Jackie (12 April 2024). "The space shuttle was revolutionary for its time. What went wrong?". CNN. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  9. ^ Chang, Kenneth (25 May 2012). "Space X Capsule Docks at Space Station". New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  10. ^ Gebhart, Chris (5 June 2017). "SpaceX's CRS-11 Dragon captured by Station for a second time". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Infographic: Why SpaceX Is A Game Changer For NASA". Statista Daily Data. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  12. ^ Overbye, Dennis (21 September 2021). "What a Fungus Reveals About the Space Program - One thing's for sure: Escaping the dung heap doesn't come cheap". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Coming Up: Crew Dragon Deorbit Burn – Commercial Crew Program". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  14. ^ Chung, Winchell D. Jr. (2011-05-30). "Basic Design". Atomic Rockets. Projectrho.com. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
  15. ^ Johnson, Sylvia (September 2012). "Thermal Protection Materials: Development, Characterization, and Evaluation" (PDF). NASA Ames Research Center.
  16. ^ High emissivity coatings on fibrous ceramics for reusable space systems Corrosion Science 2019
  17. ^ Scharr, Jillian (13 June 2013). "NASA Goes 'Green': Next Spacecraft to Be Reusable". Space.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  18. ^ Tous, Marcos (28 June 2024). "The science behind splashdown—aerospace engineer explains how NASA and SpaceX get spacecraft safely back". The Conversation. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  19. ^ "A FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING THE REUSABILITY OF HARDWARE (REUSABLE ROCKET ENGINES" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  20. ^ Foust, Jeff (16 June 2020). "NASA to allow reuse of Crew Dragon spacecraft and boosters". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  21. ^ McRea, Aaron. "Dragon receives long-planned propulsive landing upgrade after years of development". Nasa Spaceflight. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  22. ^ Thompson, Loren. "SpaceX Abandons Plan To Make Astronaut Spacecraft Reusable; Boeing Sticks With Reuse Plan". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  23. ^ Root, Al (19 November 2024). "SpaceX's Mechazilla Didn't Catch Starship. That's a Bummer". BARRON'S. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  24. ^ Foust, Jeff (2019-07-25). "SpaceX launches Dragon as it prepares for next cargo contract". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  25. ^ "COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM" (PDF). NASA. p. 20. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  26. ^ Finch, Josh (2 March 2019). "NASA, SpaceX Launch First Flight Test of Space System Designed for Crew". NASA. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  27. ^ Garcia, Mark (7 December 2020). "New SpaceX Cargo Dragon Docks to Station". NASA. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  28. ^ Amos, Jonathan (24 November 2015). "New Shepard: Bezos claims success on second spaceship flight". BBC. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  29. ^ Wolfe, Frank (4 March 2022). "Seventh X-37B Mission to Have Service Module, Like Sixth Mission, to Permit More Experiments". Defense Daily. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  30. ^ Clark, Stephen (22 April 2010). "Atlas rocket delivers Air Force spaceplane to orbit". Spaceflightnow. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  31. ^ Burghardt, Thomas (7 July 2020). "NASA and Boeing Complete Starliner Orbital Flight Test Investigation". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  32. ^ Foust, Jeff (5 December 2014). "Delta 4 Heavy Launches Orion on Second Attempt". SpaceNews. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  33. ^ Todd, David (4 September 2020). "China launches reusable spacecraft using a Long March 2F rocket…then lands it two days later". Seradata. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  34. ^ "Gemini 1". NASA. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  35. ^ "The TKS transport ship". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  36. ^ "'Yeeeow!' and 'Doggone!' Are Shouted on Beaches as Crowds Watch Liftoff". The New York Times.
  37. ^ Bergin, Chris (15 November 2013). "Remembering Buran – The Shuttle's Estranged Soviet Cousin". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  38. ^ "SpaceShipOne". Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  39. ^ "SpaceX Launches Success with Falcon 9/Dragon Flight". NASA. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2012. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  40. ^ Grush, Lauren (13 December 2018). "Virgin Galactic's spaceplane finally makes it to space for the first time". The Verge. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
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