ROCKET
TIMELINE

First large guided ballistic missile and first man-made object to reach space. Designed by Wernher von Braun, ancestor of all modern rockets.

Launched Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin. The R-7 family is the most-launched rocket in history and still flies as the Soyuz-2 today.

The most powerful rocket ever flown until Starship. Sent all 12 humans who walked on the Moon. 13 flights, 13 successes.

Soviet workhorse for heavy GEO missions. Over 400 flights since 1965. Being phased out in favour of Angara.

Modern descendant of the R-7 that launched Sputnik. Most reliable rocket in history with 1,900+ flights across all variants.

The first partially reusable spacecraft. 135 missions over 30 years. Built the ISS. Lost Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003).

Europe's flagship launcher for 27 years. Launched JWST in December 2021 in its final year of commercial service. 113 flights.

The most launched orbital rocket in history. First to land and reflly an orbital booster. Over 300 flights; individual boosters have flown 20+ times.

Three Falcon 9 cores strapped together. Most powerful operational rocket until Starship. Used for NASA Lunar Gateway and heavy DoD missions.

Largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Fully reusable — both Super Heavy booster and Ship return to launch site. Booster caught by tower arms. V3 targets 2026 debut.

NASA's deep space launch vehicle for the Artemis programme. Non-reusable. Launched Artemis I (2022) and Artemis II crew (April 2026).

Blue Origin's heavy-lift orbital rocket. First reuse of its booster in April 2026 (NG-3). Competes with Falcon Heavy for heavy LEO/GTO missions.

Europe's current flagship launcher. Two variants: A62 (twin boosters) and A64 (quad boosters). Restartable upper stage for multi-orbit missions.

ULA's next-generation launcher replacing Atlas V and Delta IV. ACES upper stage with 12-hour restart capability. Certified for national security missions.

3D-printed Rutherford engines, electric-pump-fed. The most-launched small orbital rocket. Rocket Lab recovers and refurbishes first stages. 80th flight in 2026.

China's most powerful operational rocket. Launched Tianwen-1 Mars mission, Chang'e 5 lunar sample return, and core modules of Tiangong space station.

Japan's new main launch vehicle replacing H-IIA. LE-9 engines with no turbopumps. Aims to halve launch costs. Three variants from H3-22S to H3-24L.

India's heaviest rocket. Used for Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing and OneWeb constellation launches. Will carry Gaganyaan crew in late 2026.

Russia's new generation modular launch vehicle designed to replace Proton. Uses non-toxic propellants. Slow ramp-up to replace legacy Soviet-era hardware.