Space Transportation

[This page under construction!]

The primary roadblock to settling space has been the extremely high cost of just getting to space. Most of the rockets capable of reaching orbit have been not only expensive to build but are expended after one flight. The Space Shuttle attempted to reduce costs with partial reusablity but its hyper-complexity and fragility made it even more expensive than expendables. 

Moving around in space is expensive as well. The high cost of space transport and infrequent ride opportunities led to most spacecraft being very expensive and abandoned or destroyed in Earth’s atmosphere after completing their missions. 

Progress towards significant cost reductions in launch finally got underway in the past decade. And there are serious efforts to develop vehicles that can move around in space, be refueled and refurbished, and carry out multiple missions. 

…

Reusable launch systems

[RLV background info]

Current developments

2026 looks to be the year of the reusable rocketship. Multiple companies around the world plan to introduce partially as well  as fully reusable rocket vehicles.

SpaceX is the leader in reusability with over 560 successful landings and 520 reflights of the Falcon 9 (F9) first stage between 2015 and early 2026. The F9 has proven that properly designed and executed reusability significantly lowers the cost of reaching space. This lower cost is a key factor to the boom in the growth of the space industry over the past several years. Lowering costs further will enable whole new space based businesses such as orbital AI data centers.

The F9 is partially reusable. SpaceX is now developing a fully reusable,
rapid turnaround, two-stage launch system that can place up to 150 tons of
payload into low earth orbit. The upper stage is called Starship
and the first stage is the Super Heavy Booster. At Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas the company has built an extensive production, testing, and launch facility called Starbase (pdf). Starship assembly and launch
facilities are currently under construction on Cape Canveral as well.

By the end of 2025 SpaceX had flown 11 Starship prototypes, making significant modifications and upgrades from one flight to another. There were some spectacular successes as well as failures. Five times the upper stage made successful soft landings in the Indian Ocean. And 3 times the boosters
returned to the launch pad after separation from the upper stages and were successfully captured by the “chopstick” arms on the launch tower.


A Starship launches on Nov.18, 2023 for the second orbital test
flight mission. Credits: SpaceX

In early 2026, SpaceX plans to start test flying the third major iteration of the Starship design. While current tests only aim to reach just short of orbital velocity, the goal for 2026 is for the Starship to reach orbit and return to the launch site. If testing goes well, the Starship system could become operational by the end of the year.

Blue Origin has been flying the fully reusable suborbital New Shepard vehicle for several years. It routinely flies up to 6 people and scientific projects to 100+ kilometers. The comapny entered the reusable orbital rocket business in 2025 with two flights of the New Glenn rocket, which has a reusable first stage booster. The booster made a successful landing on just the second launch.
On Nov.13, 2025, Blue Origin launched a New Glenn rocket for the second time. It successfully deployed NASA’s ESCAPADE spacecraft into orbit. The rocket booster returned after separation from the upper stage and safely landed on a floatingplatform in the Atlantic.

New entrants in the reusable rocketship arena include Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, Stoke Space, and several Chinese companies.

Rocket Lab’s Neutron and Relativity Space’s Terran R each have reusable first stage boosters. The maiden flights of these could occur in 2026.

Stoke Space is developing an innovative fully reusable two stage Nova vehicle with a medium payload capacity. They also plan to fly in 2026.

===

Several groups provide round the clock coverage of Starship activities at Starbase and in Florida. Check out, for example, the video reports and webcams at NASASpaceflight.com‘s Youtube Channel, Avid Space on Youtube, and RGV Aerial Photography.

Weekly summary videos reporting on developments with Starship and other reusable rocket programscan be found on the What about it! and Marcus House Youtube channels.

Cosmic Perspective relases beautifully made high-res videos with terrific soundtracks that hightlight particular events at Starbase. For example,

Everyone can participate in space