Supply spaceship

Supply spaceships for the International Space Station

A supply spaceship is a spacecraft that has an essential function for the transport of goods to space stations . In connection with the International Space Station , supply spaceships are also generally referred to as space transporters . In the narrower sense, only reusable transport spaceships are considered space transporters.

Examples of supply spaceships

progress

Progress ( Russian Прогресс for progress) is a Russian, Soyuz- derived, unmanned supply spaceship, which was developed in the mid-1970s by OKB-1 Koroljow ( Experimental-Konstruktionsbüro -1, today RKK Energija ) to supply space stations of the Salyut series. Later, the Mir space station and the ISS were flown to with Progress . With Progress-M, Progress-M1 and Progress-MM there have been three further stages of development so far, another one with Progress-MS is in preparation. The freighter could in future be supplemented or replaced by the Parom space tug .

ATV

The Automated Transfer Vehicle was the European contribution to the supply of the International Space Station ISS. It was a supply spaceship that navigated independently to the ISS and docked there autonomously. In addition to the Columbus module , this was the European contribution to the ISS space station with which services for the manned missions of the ESA were provided.

HTV

The HTV (H-2 Transfer Vehicle) is an unmanned supply spaceship developed by the Japanese space agency JAXA.

Dragon

Dragon is a spaceship from the US company SpaceX . In contrast to the European ATV and the Japanese HTV, it has a landing capsule and can thus bring the payload back to Earth. A manned version for up to seven people is planned.

Cygnus

Cygnus is a supply spaceship that was developed by the US company Orbital Sciences Corporation .

Tianzhou

China developed the Tianzhou supply spaceship , with which the Tiangong 2 space station launched in 2016 was flown several times .

comparison

Spaceship	progress	Space Shuttle with MPLM	ATV	HTV HTV-X	Dragon 1 Dragon 2	Cygnus	Tianzhou	Dream chaser
Starting capacity	2.2-2.4 t	9 t	7.7 t	6.0 t 5.8 t	6.0 t	2.0 t (2013) 3.5 t (2015) 3.75 t (2019)	6.5 t	5.5 t
Landing capacity	150 kg (with VBK-Raduga )	9 t	-	20 kg (from HTV-7)	3.0 t	-	-	1.75 t
Special skills	Reboost, fuel transfer	Transport of ISPR, transport of external loads, station construction, reboost	Reboost, fuel transfer	Transportation of ISPR , transportation of external loads	Transportation of ISPR, transportation of external loads	Transport of ISPR	Fuel transfer
carrier	Soyuz	STS	Ariane 5	H-2B H3	Falcon 9	Antares / Atlas 5	Long March 7	Vulcan
Start-up costs (rough information)	$ 65 million	$ 450 million	$ 600 million	HTV: $ 300-320 million	$ 150/230 million (Dragon 1/2)	$ 260/220 million (Cygnus 2/3)
Manufacturer	RKK Energija	Alenia Spazio (MPLM)	Airbus Defense and Space	Mitsubishi Electric	SpaceX	Orbital Sciences	CAST	Sierra Nevada
Period of use	since 1978	2001-2011	2008-2015	2009–2020 from 2022	2012–2020 from 2020	since 2014	since 2017	from 2021

italic = planned

literature

• Matthew A. Bentley: Spaceplanes - from Airport to Spaceport, Springer, Goldaming 2008, ISBN 978-0-387-76509-9

Web links

Commons : Supply Spaceship  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joachim Weiß (Ed.): The Brockhaus in ten volumes , FA Brockhaus, 2005; Keyword “Progress”.
2. ↑ Look it up !: 100,000 facts from all areas of knowledge. Subject recitations of the Bibliographisches Institut, Springer-Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4684-7374-2 ; limited preview in Google Book search.
3. ↑ HTV-X on Gunter's Space Page, accessed on September 24, 2019.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Dragon. SpaceX. In: spacex.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2016 ; accessed on September 22, 2019 (English). 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Dragon. SpaceX. In: spacex.com. Retrieved September 22, 2019 . 
6. ^ Commercial Resupply Services. In: orbitalatk.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Eric Berger: NASA to pay more for less cargo delivery to the space station. April 27, 2018, accessed September 22, 2019 . 
8. ^ Antares launches Cygnus cargo spacecraft on first CRS-2 mission . Spacenews, November 2, 2019.
9. ^ ^{A b} Sierra Nevada firms up Atlas V Missions for Dream Chaser Spacecraft, gears up for Flight Testing. In: Spaceflight 101 July 9, 2017, accessed September 22, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Bernd Leitenberger: Progress. In: bernd-leitenberger.de. Retrieved March 24, 2018 . 
11. ↑ How much does it cost to launch a Space Shuttle? NASA, March 23, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019 . 
12. ↑ Stephen Clark: Fourth ATV attached to Ariane 5 launcher. In: spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Stephen Clark: Space station partners assess logistics needs beyond 2015. In: spaceflightnow.com. December 1, 2009, accessed March 24, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Robert Wyre: JAXA Wants ¥¥¥¥¥ for 2020 Rocket. In: majiroxnews.com. January 19, 2011, archived from the original on March 2, 2016 ; accessed on March 24, 2018 (English). 
15. ↑ ^{a b} SpaceX price hikes will make ISS cargo missions more costly . Engadget, April 27, 2018.
16. ↑ Stephen Clark: Japan's HTV ready for launch with last set of new space station solar batteries . Spaceflight Now, May 19, 2020.