Commercial companies like SpaceX are starting to gain traction in the space industry. There are currently more than a dozen private rockets capsules and spaceplanes under development, with more on the way soon. Most will carry cargo, while others will primarily be for crew and space tourism.
SpaceX
Falcon Heavy is expected to launch for the first time in late 2016.
Dragon
Orbital ATK
An upgraded Antares rocket is expected to launch for the first time in the summer of 2016.
Cygnus
Virgin Galactic
SpaceShipTwo is currently undergoing testing and is expected to fly passengers soon.
Manned test flights are expected to begin in 2017.
Blue Origin
New Shepard
Missions to the International Space Station could begin in 2019.
Siera Nevada
Dream Chaser
Development on the Lynx Mark II spacecraft is currently on hold.
XCOR
Lynx Mark II
$150,000
Boeing Starliner is expected to fly astronauts to the International Space Station by 2018.
NASA
Space Launch System
In development. Test missions to start in 2018.
Orion
ULA
Vulcan is expected to have initial launch capability by 2019.
SpaceX
Falcon Heavy and Dragon
The Falcon Heavy is a powerful multi-engine rocket used for flying large commercial satellites and cargo to deep space. It is expected to launch for the first time in late 2016 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company plans to fly an unmanned Dragon space craft to Mars as soon as 2018. SpaceX's Dragon capsule became the first commercial space craft to deliver cargo to the International Space Station in 2012. Now the company is working to develop a version that would be able to fly humans by 2017 and land using its engine thrust.
SpaceX already uses the Falcon 9 to launch commercial satellites to orbit and cargo to the International Space Station. It has one engine core as opposed to Falcon Heavy's three, and would also be used to fly astronauts to the station by late 2017 or 2018.
Falcon Heavy features three nine-core Merlin engines. The thrust it produces is equivalent to 15 Boeing 747s at full power
Orbital ATK
Antares and Cygnus
Orbital ATK's Antares rocket and its capsule, Cygnus, can ferry payloads up to seven thousand kilos to low-Earth orbit. The rocket, which uses the Russian-made RD-181 engine, was redesigned after it exploded in 2014 while on a mission to fly supplies for NASA to the International Space Station. The upgraded Antares rocket is expected to launch for the first time in the summer of 2016.
Cygnus has no heatshields so, after it has rendezvoused with the International Space Station, it is loaded with garbage and released. It eventually burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Virgin Galactic
SpaceShipTwo
Virgin Galactic calls SpaceShipTwo an “air-launched glider” that is designed to carry tourists just past the edge of space. It is tethered to the belly of a massive plane known as WhiteKnightTwo. Then, once it is high in the air, the vehicle drops, fires its engine and shoots up to space. In 2014, an earlier version of the vehicle came apart mid-flight, killing one of the pilots. Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, unveiled the new SpaceShipTwo at an event earlier this year in Mojave, California. The spacecraft is currently undergoing testing and is expected to fly passengers soon, though the company has not given a date.
Blue Origin
New Shepard
Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle is designed to fly crew and cargo just past the edge of space. It is outfitted with large windows so that tourists would have a good view of Earth from space. The rocket was designed to be reusable and completed its first successful vertical landing in late 2015. Jeff Bezos’ space company has launched and landed its New Shepard vehicle several times in 2016. Manned test flights are expected to begin in 2017, with passenger flights as soon as 2018.
It takes Blue Origin’s New Shepard less than two hundred seconds to reach the outer bounds of Earth’s atmosphere. At this point, a hundred kilometers above ground, the capsule separates and enters four minutes of free flight. The main booster stabilizes and reignites its engine before landing vertically on four landing legs. The capsule returns to the ground with three large parachutes.
Sierra Nevada
Dream Chaser
Originally designed to fly astronauts, Sierra Nevada Corp's Dream Chaser was chosen by NASA in 2016 to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. It is launched to orbit perched a top a rocket, but flies back to Earth on its own, landing on a runway. Missions to the station could begin in 2019.
Dream Chaser also comes in an unmanned cargo variant, which trades windows for extra heat shields.
XCOR
Lynx Mark II
The Lynx Mark II is a spaceplane that takes off and lands like a standard plane. It can carry a pilot and single passenger or payload to an altitude more than a hundred kilometers. The Lynx Mark II is designed to be able to fly several times a day with highly reusable engines. The company recently laid of a significant portion of its workforce and is focusing its efforts on its engine development, leaving the future of the Lynx Mark II uncertain. The XCOR XR-5K18 is fueled by high-grade jet fuel and liquid oxygen. The engine is able to stop and restart using a proprietary spark-torch ignition system. Its cooling system allows it to run for indefinite periods without maintenance or disassembly. Each engine produces about three thousand pounds of thrust.
Boeing
Starliner
Boeing's Starliner is designed to carry a crew of up to seven to the International Space Station for NASA. First flights are scheduled for 2017. Boeing is also working to fly private passengers to space aboard the capsule. The Starliner spacecraft is under development, and is expected to fly astronauts to the International Space Station by 2018.
NASA
Space Launch System (Boeing) and Orion (Lockheed Martin)
NASA has teamed up with Boeing, Orbital ATK, and Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop the Space Launch System (SLS), with hopes of exploring deep space and, NASA says, eventually going to Mars. The first test flight of SLS is scheduled in 2018, when it would embark on a three-week mission to orbit the Moon. A mission with astronauts is not scheduled until 2021 at the earliest. In 2014, Lockheed's Orion capsule flew further than any other spacecraft designed for humans since 1972 when it hit an altitude of thirty-six-hundred miles. It is scheduled to fly around the Moon in 2018 in an unmanned mission that would last three weeks. When complete, the SLS, under development by lead contractor Boeing, will be the most powerful rocket ever built.
ULA
Vulcan
Scheduled to launch in 2019, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is betting on Vulcan to be the successor to their prolific Atlas V and Delta rocket families. For years, ULA, the joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, had a monopoly on national security launches. But the company decided to develop a new vehicle that would use an American-made engine, which would pop out of the first stage and be recovered by helicopter so that it could be reused.
Depending on the mission, Vulcan can be modified. Different sized nose cones or extra boosters can accomodate a wide range of payloads. Vulcan will likely use two Blue Origin BE-4 liquefied natural gas main engines
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