Editing Spacecraft (section)

=== Spaceplanes ===
{{Main|Spaceplane}}
[[File:STS-73 landing.jpg|thumb|''Columbia'' orbiter landing]]
Spaceplanes are spacecraft that are built in the shape of, and function as, [[airplane]]s. The first example of such was the [[North American X-15]] spaceplane, which conducted two crewed flights which reached an altitude of over  {{convert|100|km|mi}} in the 1960s.  This first reusable spacecraft was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on July 19, 1963.

The first reusable orbital spaceplane was the [[Space Shuttle orbiter]]. The first orbiter to fly in space, the [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']], was launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of [[Yuri Gagarin]]'s flight, on April 12, 1981. During the Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which have flown in the atmosphere and five of which have flown in space. ''[[Space Shuttle Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a [[Shuttle Carrier Aircraft|Boeing 747 SCA]] and gliding to deadstick landings at [[Edwards AFB, California]]. The first Space Shuttle to fly into space was ''[[Space Shuttle Columbia|Columbia]]'', followed by ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]'', ''[[Space Shuttle Discovery|Discovery]]'', ''[[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Atlantis]]'', and ''[[Space Shuttle Endeavour|Endeavour]]''. ''Endeavour'' was built to replace ''Challenger'' when it was [[STS-51-L|lost]] in January 1986. ''Columbia'' [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|broke up]] during reentry in February 2003.

The first autonomous reusable spaceplane was the [[Buran programme|''Buran''-class shuttle]], launched by the USSR on November 15, 1988, although it made only one flight and this was uncrewed. This [[spaceplane]] was designed for a crew and strongly resembled the U.S. Space Shuttle, although its drop-off boosters used liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what would be the external tank in the American Shuttle. Lack of funding, complicated by the [[dissolution of the USSR]], prevented any further flights of Buran. The Space Shuttle was subsequently modified to allow for autonomous re-entry in case of necessity.

Per the [[Vision for Space Exploration]], the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 mainly due to its old age and high cost of program reaching over a billion dollars per flight. The Shuttle's human transport role is to be replaced by [[SpaceX]]'s [[SpaceX Dragon 2]] and [[Boeing]]'s [[CST-100 Starliner]]. Dragon 2's first crewed flight occurred on May 30, 2020.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=SpaceX|number=1266812530833240064|date=30 May 2020|title=Liftoff!|access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref> The Shuttle's heavy cargo transport role is to be replaced by expendable rockets such as the [[Space Launch System]] and [[United Launch Alliance|ULA]]'s [[Vulcan (rocket)|Vulcan]] rocket, as well as the commercial launch vehicles.

[[Scaled Composites]]' [[SpaceShipOne]] was a reusable suborbital [[spaceplane]] that carried pilots [[Mike Melvill]] and [[Brian Binnie]] on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the [[Ansari X Prize]]. [[The Spaceship Company]] built a successor [[SpaceShipTwo]]. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by [[Virgin Galactic]] was planned to begin reusable [[private spaceflight]] carrying paying passengers in 2014, but was delayed after the [[VSS Enterprise crash|crash of VSS ''Enterprise'']].

==== Space Shuttle ====
{{Main|Space Shuttle}}
[[File:Space Shuttle Columbia launching.jpg|thumb|US [[Space Shuttle]] flew 135 times from 1981 to 2011, supporting [[Mir]], the [[Hubble Space Telescope]], and the [[International Space Station]]. (''Columbia''{{'s}} [[STS-1|maiden launch]], which had a white external tank, shown)|alt=Columbia's first launch on the mission]]
The [[Space Shuttle]] is a retired reusable Low Earth Orbital launch system. It consisted of [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|two reusable Solid Rocket Boosters]] that landed by parachute, were recovered at sea, and were the most powerful rocket motors ever made until they were superseded by those of [[NASA|NASA’s]] [[Space Launch System|SLS]] rocket, with a liftoff thrust of {{convert|2,800,000|lbf|MN}}, which soon increased to {{convert|3,300,000|lbf|MN}} per booster,<ref name=braeunig>{{cite web|url=http://www.braeunig.us/space/specs/shuttle.htm|title=Space Launchers - Space Shuttle|website=www.braeunig.us|access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref> and were fueled by a combination of [[Polybutadiene acrylonitrile|PBAN]] and [[Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant|APCP]], the [[Space Shuttle orbiter|Space Shuttle Orbiter]], with 3 [[RS-25]] engines that used a [[liquid oxygen]]/[[liquid hydrogen]] propellant combination, and the bright orange throwaway [[Space Shuttle external tank]] from which the RS-25 engines sourced their fuel. The orbiter was a spaceplane that was launched at NASA’s [[Kennedy Space Center|Kennedy Space Centre]] and landed mainly at the [[Shuttle Landing Facility]], which is part of Kennedy Space Centre. A second launch site, [[Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 6]] in [[California]], was revamped so it could be used to launch the shuttles, but it was never used. The launch system could lift about {{convert|29|tonnes|lb}} into an eastward [[Low Earth orbit|Low Earth Orbit]]. Each orbiter weighed roughly {{convert|78|tonnes|lb}}, however the different orbiters had differing weights and thus payloads, with ''Columbia'' being the heaviest orbiter, ''Challenger'' being lighter than ''Columbia but'' still heavier than the other three. The orbiter structure was mostly composed of aluminium alloy. The orbiter had seven seats for crew members, though on [[STS-61-A]] the launch took place with 8 crew onboard. The orbiters had {{convert|4.6|m|ft}} wide by {{convert|18|m|ft}} long payload bays and also were equipped with a {{convert|15.2|m|ft}} [[Canadarm|CanadaArm1]], an upgraded version of which is used on the [[International Space Station]]. The heat shield (or [[Space Shuttle thermal protection system|Thermal Protection System]]) of the orbiter, used to protect it from extreme levels of heat during [[Atmospheric entry|atmospheric reentry]] and the cold of space, was made up of different materials depending on weight and how much heating a particular area on the shuttle would receive during reentry, which ranged from over {{convert|1600|C|F|sigfig=2|abbr=on|order=flip}} to under {{convert|370|C|F|sigfig=2|abbr=on|order=flip}}. The orbiter was manually operated, though an autonomous landing system was added while the shuttle was still on service. It had an in orbit maneouvreing system known as the Orbital Manoeuvring System, which used the hypergolic propellants [[Monomethylhydrazine|monomethylhydrazine (MMH)]] and [[dinitrogen tetroxide]], which was used for orbital insertion, changes to orbits and the deorbit burn.
[[File:SpaceShuttleGroundProcessingActual.jpg|thumb|right|Refurbishing the orbiters and the solid rocket boosters after flight was very complex, expensive and slow. The shortest time between landing and reflight for a Space Shuttle was 54 days for the Space Shuttle [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Atlantis]].]]
{{main|Criticism of the Space Shuttle Program}}
Though the shuttle’s goals were to drastically decrease launch costs, it did not do so, ending up being much more expensive than similar expendable launchers. This was due to expensive refurbishment costs and the external tank being expended. Once a landing had occurred, the SRBs and many parts of the orbiter had to be disassembled for inspection, which was long and arduous. Furthermore, the RS-25 engines had to be replaced every few flights. Each of the heat shielding tiles had to go in one specific area on the orbiter, increasing complexity more. Adding to this, the shuttle was a rather dangerous system, with fragile heat shielding tiles, some being so fragile that one could easily scrape it off by hand, often having been damaged in many flights. After 30 years in service from 1981 to 2011 and 135 flights, the shuttle was retired from service due to the cost of maintaining the shuttles, and the 3 remaining orbiters (the other two were destroyed in accidents) were prepared to be displayed in museums.