Space Shuttle program

Space Shuttle program

Program overview
Country	United States
Organization	NASA
Purpose	Crewed orbital flight
Status	Completed
Program history
Cost	US$196 billion (2011)
Duration	1972–2011[a]
First flight	August 12, 1977 (1977-08-12) (ALT-12)
First crewed flight	April 12, 1981 (1981-04-12) (STS-1)
Last flight	July 21, 2011 (2011-07-21) (STS-135)
Successes	133
Failures	2 (STS-51-L, STS-107)
Partial failures	1 (STS-83)
Launch site(s)	Kennedy, LC-39A Kennedy, LC-39B
Vehicle information
Crewed vehicle(s)	Space Shuttle orbiter
Launch vehicle(s)	Space Shuttle

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v t e

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development, as a proposed nuclear shuttle in the plan was cancelled in 1972.^[1][2] It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.

The Space Shuttle, composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank, carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would reenter the Earth's atmosphere and land like a glider at either the Kennedy Space Center or Edwards Air Force Base.

The Shuttle is the only winged crewed spacecraft to have achieved orbit and landing, and the first reusable crewed space vehicle that made multiple flights into orbit.^[b] Its missions involved carrying large payloads to various orbits including the International Space Station (ISS), providing crew rotation for the space station, and performing service missions on the Hubble Space Telescope. The orbiter also recovered satellites and other payloads (e.g., from the ISS) from orbit and returned them to Earth, though its use in this capacity was rare. Each vehicle was designed with a projected lifespan of 100 launches, or 10 years' operational life. Original selling points on the shuttles were over 150 launches over a 15-year operational span with a 'launch per month' expected at the peak of the program, but extensive delays in the development of the International Space Station^[3] never created such a peak demand for frequent flights.

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