List of canceled launch vehicle designs

Even before the launch of Sputnik 1, there were various types of launch vehicle designs. The launch vehicle designs described below are either canceled or never left the drawing board.

20th century

Name	Designer	Proposed	Canceled
Von Braun ferry rocket	Wernher von Braun	1950s
North American X-15B	USAF and NACA		1958
Mercury-Jupiter	NASA		1959
Saturn C-2		1959	1962
Saturn C-3
Saturn C-4
Nova
BAC Mustard	BAC	1960s	1967
NEXUS	General Dynamics
Saturn C-5N	NASA		1972
Saturn INT-20
UR-700	Vladimir Chelomei
Saenger (spacecraft)	Eugen Sänger, Junkers, MBB, DLR		1995
Saturn C-8	NASA	1962	1962
Sea Dragon	Robert Truax
Douglas SASSTO	Philip Bono	1967
Martin Marietta Spacemaster	Martin Marietta
Saturn V-A	NASA	1968
Saturn V-C
Saturn V-Centaur
Saturn V-D
Saturn INT-21		1970s
Chrysler SERV	Chrysler	1971
Saturn-Shuttle	NASA		1972
Hermes	CNES and ESA	1975	1992
Rockwell X-30	Rockwell International	1980	1993
British Aerospace HOTOL	British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce	1982	1989
Trans Atmospheric Vehicle	Lockheed Martin	~1985
Shuttle-C	NASA	1984	1995
VentureStar	Lockheed Martin	1990s	2001
National Launch System	NASA	1991	1992
Black Horse	Mitchell Burnside Clapp	1993	1996
Kankoh-maru	Japanese Rocket Society
K-1	Rocketplane Kistler	1994	2007
Roton	Rotary Rocket	1996	2001
Magnum	NASA		2004

21st century

Name	Designer	Proposed	Canceled
Ares IV	NASA	2000s	2010
Ares V Lite
Jupiter	DIRECT		2010
Falcon 1e	SpaceX		2011
Haas	ARCAspace
Orbital Space Plane Program	NASA	2002	2004
Falcon 5	SpaceX	2003	2005
Galaxy Express	Galaxy Express Corporation		2009
Ares I	NASA	2005	2010
Ares V
Rocketplane XP	Rocketplane Kistler		2011
Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle	NASA	2009	2010
Liberty	ATK and Astrium	2011	2012
Falcon 9 Air	SpaceX
Mars Colonial Transporter		2012	2016
Interplanetary Transport System		2016	2017
Big Falcon Rocket		2017	2018
OmegA	Northrop Grumman	2016	2020

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• Comparison of orbital launch systems
• Non-rocket spacelaunch
• List of orbital launch systems
• List of private spaceflight companies#Crew and cargo transport vehicles
• Spaceplane
• List of crewed lunar lander designs

Further reading

• SP-4221 The Space Shuttle Decision Chapter 8 (NASA)
• Dr. Wernher Von Braun (July 1970). "The Spaceplane that can put you in orbit". Popular Science.
• T.A. Heppenheimer - SP-4221 The Space Shuttle Decision (NASA, 1998)

External links

• INTRODUCTION TO FUTURE LAUNCH VEHICLE PLANS [1963-2001] by Marcus Lindroos (Updated 6/15/2001)
• Space Future - Vehicle Designs
• Category:Proposed or planned spacecraft (Wikimedia Commons)
• 10 Space Shuttles which never flew (Lockheed Starclipper, Chrysler SERV, Phase B Shuttles, Rockwell C-1057, Shuttle C, Air Launched Sortie Vehicle (ALSV), Hermes, Buran, Shuttle II, Lockheed Martin VentureStar)