Mercury
In-active Human Rated Capsule Crew Capacity: 1 Diameter: 1.8 m Height: 3.3 m()
May 5, 1961
Human transportation to upper Earth atmosphere and low Earth orbit.
Flight Life
Between 15 minutes and 3 days.
Description
The Mercury spacecraft's principal designer was Maxime Faget, who started research for manned spaceflight during the time of the NACA. With 100 cubic feet (2.8 m3) of habitable volume, the capsule was just large enough for a single crew member. Inside were 120 controls: 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses and 35 mechanical levers. The heaviest spacecraft, Mercury-Atlas 9, weighed 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) fully loaded. Its outer skin was made of René 41, a nickel alloy able to withstand high temperatures.
History
The Mercury spacecraft was the manned capsule used for suborbital and orbital launches during the Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight program of the United States, from 1958 through 1963.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 6-85
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAA batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 6-89
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USAA batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Atlas V 551
ViaSat-3 F2 (ViaSat-3 EMEA)
Space Launch Complex 41 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAThe ViaSat-3 is a series of three Ka-band satellites is expected to provide vastly superior capabilities in terms of service speed and flexibility fo…
New Glenn
EscaPADE
Launch Complex 36A - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USASecond flight of Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle carrying the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), a dual-spacecr…
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 6-87
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAA batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Ceres-1
Jilin-1 High Resolution-04C and others
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaEarth Observation satellite for the Jilin-1 commercial constellation. Other payloads: * Jilin-1 Platform-02A-04 * Zhongbei University-1
Long March 12
SatNet LEO Group 13
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of ChinaA batch of Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group. …
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 10-51
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USAA batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Kinetica 1
Chutian-2 01 & 02
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China2 satellites built by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) for testing operations of Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellites f…
Long March 11
Shiyan 32 01-03
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch3 Chinese satellites reported to be for "orbital technological testing" purposes. Actual usage not known.
