science

Reusable spacecraft

Reusable spacecraft is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Reusable spacecraft rather than just read about it. In short: Reusable spacecraft are spacecraft capable of repeated launch, atmospheric reentry, and landing or splashdown. This contrasts with expendable spacecraft which are designed to be discarded after use.

Key takeaways

Reusable spacecraft belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Reusable spacecraft to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Reusable spacecraft from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Reusable spacecraft are spacecraft capable of repeated launch, atmospheric reentry, and landing or splashdown. This contrasts with expendable spacecraft which are designed to be discarded after use. Agencies operating reusable spacecraft aim to have lower costs and higher flight frequencies. Reusable spacecraft may be crewed or uncrewed and orbital or sub-orbital. Examples include spaceplanes such as the Space Shuttle and the Boeing X-37B, and space capsules such as the SpaceX Dragon. The Blue Origin New Shepard is an example of a sub-orbital spacecraft.

History

On 17 July 1962, the North American X-15 rocket plane reached an altitude of 95.9km on a sub-orbital flight. In 1963, the X-15 completed two flights above 100km. These marked the first spaceflights with a reusable vehicle. The Gemini SC-2 capsule followed, completing sub-orbital flights in 1965 and 1966. The first spacecraft to be reused in orbit was the Soviet VA spacecraft, a capsule that was part of the larger TKS spacecraft. A VA capsule that launched in 1977 was reflown in 1978. The Space Shuttle was the first orbital spacecraft designed for reuse according to NASA, and first launched in 1981. Five orbiters would launch 135 times before the vehicle's retirement in 2011. Space Shuttle Discovery set the record of 39 spaceflights with a single spacecraft in 2011. The Space Shuttle program, however, faced criticism that it failed to reduce the cost of access to space and had safety concerns following the Challenger and Columbia disasters. The SpaceX Dragon 1 first flew in 2010 and became the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to be recovered from orbit. In 2012, Dragon became the first commercial vehicle to attach to the International Space Station (ISS), after which it conducted regular cargo resupply flights for NASA. Its first reuse was in 2017, and the vehicle led to the development of the Dragon 2, which first reached orbit in 2019. Dragon 2 carries both cargo and crew, and has been described as the most cost-effective spacecraft ever used by NASA. In 2021, Dragon 2 conducted the first orbital flight with only private astronauts onboard. SpaceShipOne, another rocket plane, completed the first private sub-orbital spaceflight in 2004 and led to the development of SpaceShipTwo. The Blue Origin New Shepard capsule conducts commercial sub-orbital spaceflights, as did SpaceShipTwo. Development flights for SpaceX Starship test vehicles began in 2019. Starship is intended to be both a fully reusable spacecraft and launch vehicle. Starship's first integrated launch with its booster was in 2023, and it reached space the same year. In 2024, Starship successfully reentered the atmosphere and completed propulsive splashdowns in the Indian Ocean, although as of January 2025 it has not been recovered from space intact.

Design

Reusable spacecraft must survive reentry and safely return to the surface. The mass of any hardware dedicated for this reduces potential payload mass.

Atmospheric entry Orbital spacecraft initiate a deorbit burn and orient themselves for atmospheric entry. The Boeing Starliner and Orion discard their service modules, including most of their maneuvering engines. The SpaceX Dragon discards its trunk, which includes its solar panels and radiators, but retains its Draco engines in the capsule. The Space Shuttle was notable for recovering the entire spacecraft. In general, around 15% of the landed weight of a vehicle is heat shielding. Thermal protection systems (TPS) can be made of a variety of materials, including reinforced carbon-carbon and ablative materials. Historically, these materials were first developed on ballistic missile reentry vehicles. However, the requirements of reusable space systems differ from those of single use reentry vehicles, especially with regards to heat shield requirements. In particular the need for durable high emissivity coatings that can withstand multiple thermal cycles constitutes a key requirement in the development of new reusable spacecraft. Current materials for such high emissivity coatings include transition metal disilicides. Ablative heat shields are reliable, but are heavy and diminished with use. Reinforced carbon-carbon heat tiles such as those used on the Space Shuttle are fragile, which contributed to the Columbia disaster. The Space Shuttle used the LI-900 material.

Landing and refurbishment Runway landings from orbit became prevalent with the introduction of the Space Shuttle. Spaceplanes that land horizontally on a runway require lifting surfaces and landing gear. Designs include the Space Shuttle's delta wing and the Dream Chaser's lifting body. Spaceplanes require access to a long enough runway, a necessary consideration for the Space Shuttle launch abort modes. The first recoverable space capsules landed under parachute, either on land or by splashing down in a body of water. Ground landings require additional cushioning, which Starliner accomplishes with deployable airbags. This was considered for Orion as well, but was ruled out due to the extra mass required. The sub-orbital New Shepard uses retro-rockets to slow down just before touchdown, a technique that has been used by the expendable Soyuz since the 1960s. Splashing down allows the water to cushion the spacecraft, but exposure to salt water can have adverse effects on the vehicle. Despite this, SpaceX began regularly reusing Dragon capsules after splashdown. Dragon 2 was originally designed to propusively land using its SuperDraco engines; however, propulsive landings for Dragon were canceled and Dragon 2 also uses parachutes to splashdown in the ocean. Starship is designed to propulsively land using its Raptor engines. It aims to be "caught" by the launch tower, as is done for the Super Heavy booster. This eliminates the need for traditional landing legs on the vehicle and aims to lower the turnaround time between launches. After a spacecraft is recovered, it may need to be refurbished before its next flight. Depending on the spacecraft design, this process may be lengthy and expensive, and there may be a limit to how many times a spacecraft can be refurbished before it has to be retired.

List of reusable spacecraft

Operational

Under development

Retired

Proposed SUSIE Avatar

Canceled Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar Hermes Kliper MAKS HOPE-X Skylon

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Reusable spacecraft

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Reusable spacecraft claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Reusable spacecraft before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Reusable spacecraft ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Reusable spacecraft

In research: Reusable spacecraft appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Reusable spacecraft in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Reusable spacecraft is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Reusable spacecraft, Spacecraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Reusable spacecraft outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Reusable spacecraft in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Reusable spacecraft means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Reusable spacecraft out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reusable spacecraft in simple terms?

Reusable spacecraft are spacecraft capable of repeated launch, atmospheric reentry, and landing or splashdown. This contrasts with expendable spacecraft which are designed to be discarded after use.

Why does Reusable spacecraft matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Reusable spacecraft?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Reusable spacecraft.