SPACECRAFT

A spacecraft or spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to operate outside the Earth's atmosphere, especially in outer space. Spacecraft can be manned or unmanned. A spacecraft may be built for events such as telecommunications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetless, space tourism, space warfare, people and cargo in space environment (eng: Cargo spacecraft). This definition also includes artificial satellites.

View of space shuttle Discovery from the International Space Station

More than 100 Soviet and Russian-made Soyuz crewed spacecraft have been flown into orbit since 1967 and are currently supporting Ulular operations. The picture shows the TMA version).

The US Space Shuttle made 135 flights between 1981 and 2011 and supported Spacelab, Mir and ISS projects. The white outer tank can be seen in the picture showing the first launch of the Space Shuttle 'Columbia'. During sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters space and then returns to the surface without entering a geostationary orbit. During orbital space flights, the spacecraft enters a closed orbit around the Earth or other astronomical objects. Spacecraft developed for human spaceflight are used after launch on Earth or while carrying crew or passengers from space stations in orbit. Those used in robotic space missions (English: Robotic spacecraft) operate either autonomously (English: autonomous robot) or by remote control. Robotic space vehicles that support scientific research are called space probes. Robotic spacecraft that orbit around a planetary celestial body are called artificial satellites. Only a few interstellar probes, such as Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and New Horizons, are heading in the direction of leaving the Solar System (eng: Trajectory).
 
Some orbital spacecraft are designed to be recoverable. Space vehicles that begin to return to Earth via reentry can be classified into two classes: wingless space capsules and winged space planes. Although humanity has achieved spaceflight capability, only a few nations have the necessary technology for orbital launches: Russia (RSA), USA (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) member states, Japan (JAXA), China (CNSA), India (ISRO), Taiwan[1][2][3][4] (Chung-Shan National Institute of Science and Technology - ing: NCIST-, Taiwan National Space Organization- ing: NSPO-[5][ 6][7]), Israel (ISA), Iran (ISA) and North Korea (National Aeronautics Development Administration - ing: NADA).
HISTORY
The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union.


A German-made V-2 became the first spacecraft in history when it reached an altitude of 189 km after being launched from Peenemunde, East Prussia, which was still within the borders of Germany in June 1944. [8] The Sputnik 1 spacecraft is the first artificial satellite ever built. It was launched into an elliptical Low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. The launch was a harbinger of new political, military, technological and scientific developments to be achieved in the near future; Although the Sputnik launch was an isolated event, it marked the beginning of the Space Age.[9][10] Besides its value as a technological "first", Sputnik 1 also contributed to the definition of the density of the upper atmosphere by measuring changes in the satellite's orbit. It also provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere. Thanks to the pressurized nitrogen in the fake body of the artificial satellite, the opportunity to detect meteoroids has been obtained for the first time. Sputnik 1 satellite was launched from Tyuratam range number 5 (English: 5th Tyuratam range) at the launch site named Gagarin's Beginning (eng: Site No.1/5), which was within the borders of the Kazakh SSR at the time, within the scope of the project called the International Geophysical Year. The satellite traveled at 29,000 kilometers (18,000 mi) per hour, completed one full orbit in 96.2 minutes, and emitted radio signals at frequencies of 20,005 and 40,002 MHz.

Although Sputnik 1 was the first spacecraft to orbit around the Earth, other man-made objects managed to reach an altitude of 100 km before the Sputnik 1 satellite. Flights that reach this altitude are counted as space flights by the International Aeronautical Federation. This height is also called the Karman line. In particular, various test launches for V-2 rockets were carried out in the 1940s, and in some of these launches, the rocket reached an altitude of over 100 km.

SPACECRAFT UNDER DEVELOPMENT


manned (USA-NASA) Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle - capsule (USA -SpaceX) Dragon 2 - capsule (eng:Dragon 2) (USA -Boeing) CST-100 Starliner - capsule (eng:CST-100) (USA -Sierra Nevada Corporation) Dream Chaser - orbital space plane (eng:Dream Chaser) (USA -The Spaceship Company) SpaceShipTwo sub-orbital space plane (eng:en:The Spaceship Company) (USA -Blue Origin) New Shepard reusable launch system - VTVL capsule (eng:New Shepard - VTVL) (USA -XCOR) XCOR Lynx rocket-plane - suborbital spaceplane China-Shenzhou 3 spacecraft Cargo China - Shenzhou 4 spacecraft Cargo China - Shenzhou 5 spacecraft Cargo China - Shenzhou 6 spacecraft Cargo China - Shenzhou 7 spacecraft Cargo China - Shenzhou 8 spacecraft Cargo China - Shenzhou 9 spacecraft Cargo China - Shenzhou 10 spacecraft Cargo (India - DRDO) Avatar RLV - in development phase, first demonstration flight was planned to be in 2015[13] (eng:Avatar RLV) (India -ISRO) ISRO Orbital Vehicle - capsule (eng:Orbital Vehicle) (India -ISRO) RLV Technology Program - spacecraft (eng:en:RLV Technology Demonstration Programme) SpaceX reusable rocket (Big Falcon Rocket) (eng:reusable rocket - BFR) (Russia - RKA) Federation - capsule (eng: PPTS) (Europe - ESA) Advanced Crew Transportation System - capsule (eng:Advanced Crew Transportation System) (Iranian Space Agency) Orbital Vehicle - capsule (eng: Orbital Vehicle)