Cargo spacecraft

A collage of automated cargo spacecraft used in the past or present to resupply the International Space Station

Cargo spacecraft are robotic spacecraft that are designed to support space station operation by transporting food, propellant and other supplies. This is different from space probes, whose missions are to conduct scientific investigations.

Automated cargo spacecraft have been used since 1978 and have serviced Salyut 6, Salyut 7, Mir and the International Space Station.

Spacecraft

Current spacecraft

• the Russian Progress spacecraft^[1]—developed by Russian Federal Space Agency
• the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle^[2]—developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• the American Dragon spacecraft^[3]—developed under contract from NASA by SpaceX, a private spaceflight company
• the American Cygnus spacecraft^[4]—developed under contract from NASA by Orbital ATK, a private spaceflight company

Defunct or retired projects

• the Soviet optionally-manned TKS spacecraft
• the European Automated Transfer Vehicle^[5][6]—developed by the European Space Agency. The last vehicle, Georges Lemaître ATV, completed its mission in February, 2015.

Spacecraft in development

• a Chinese cargo craft based on Tiangong-1 that will have a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters and a launch weight less than 13 tons.^[7]
• A variant of the CST-100 crew transportation vehicle has been proposed by Boeing for cargo delivery.^[8]
• In January 2016, NASA announced that Dream Chaser had been awarded one of the contracts under CRS2. NASA committed to purchasing a minimum of six resupply missions to the ISS from Sierra Nevada.^[9]

Canceled projects

• The American private-sector Kistler K-1 from Rocketplane Kistler saw its contract with NASA terminated in October 2007 when the company failed to meet objectives. The contract was re-awarded to Orbital Sciences Corporation.^[10][11]

See also

• Comparison of space station cargo vehicles
• List of unmanned spaceflights to the International Space Station
• Space transport

References

1. Gunter's Space Page: Progress-M 1M - 10M (11F615A60, 7KTGM).
2. "NASA Sets Briefing, TV Coverage of Japan's First Cargo Spacecraft". NASA. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
3. "F9/Dragon Will Replace the Cargo Transport Function of the Space Shuttle after 2010". SpaceX. 2008-12-23. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
4. "Canadarm2 Captures Cygnus".
5. ESA Automatic Transfer Vehicle
6. Thales Alenia Space ATV & ISS Modules, archived from the original on 2010-07-06
7. "The end of 2010 China will launch the "Temple" target spacecraft" (in Chinese). Xinhua. 2009-03-08. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
8. Space News: Boeing Offers CST-100 for ISS Cargo Contract (16 December 2014)
9. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-international-space-station-cargo-transport-contracts. Missing or empty |title= (help)
10. Space.com - Rocketplane Kistler Appeals NASA Decision to Terminate COTS Agreement (22 October 2007)
11. Orbital Wins $171 Million Space Station Re-Supply Demo Deal (19 February 2008)