Editing Launch vehicle (section)

{{Short description|Rocket used to carry a spacecraft into space}}
{{Redirect|Satellite launch vehicle|the Indian rocket|Satellite Launch Vehicle}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2009}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2015}}
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[[File:Soyuz TMA-5 launch.jpg|thumb|Russian [[Soyuz TMA-5]] lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan heading for the [[International Space Station]]]]
[[File:Space_Launchers.png|thumb|Comparison of launch vehicles. Show payload masses to [[Low Earth orbit|LEO]], [[Geostationary transfer orbit|GTO]], [[Trans-lunar injection|TLI]] and [[Heliocentric orbit#Trans-Mars injection|MTO]] ]]

A '''launch vehicle''' is typically a [[rocket]]-powered vehicle designed to carry a [[payload]] (a crewed [[spacecraft]] or [[satellite]]s) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to [[outer space]]. The most common form is the [[ballistic missile]]-shaped [[multistage rocket]], but the term is more general and also encompasses vehicles like the [[Space Shuttle]]. Most launch vehicles operate from a [[launch pad]], supported by a [[missile launch control center|launch control center]] and systems such as vehicle assembly and fueling.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/fl_clcs_020918.html |title=NASA Kills 'Wounded' Launch System Upgrade at KSC |publisher=Florida Today |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021013181710/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/fl_clcs_020918.html |archive-date=2002-10-13 }}</ref> Launch vehicles are engineered with advanced [[aerodynamics]] and technologies, which contribute to high operating costs.

An [[orbital spaceflight|orbital]] launch vehicle must lift its payload at least to the boundary of space, approximately {{Cvt|150|km|mi|abbr=on}} and accelerate it to a horizontal velocity of at least {{Cvt|7814|m/s|mph}}.<ref name=hill1999>{{citation | first1=James V. H. | last1=Hill | date=April 1999 | title=Getting to Low Earth Orbit | work=Space Future | url=http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/getting_to_low_earth_orbit.shtml | access-date=2012-03-18 | postscript=. | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319163414/http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/getting_to_low_earth_orbit.shtml | archive-date=2012-03-19 }}</ref> [[Suborbital spaceflight|Suborbital]] vehicles launch their payloads to lower velocity or are launched at [[elevation angle]]s greater than horizontal.

Practical orbital launch vehicles use [[chemical propellant]]s such as [[Solid-propellant rocket|solid fuel]], liquid [[hydrogen]], [[kerosene]], [[liquid oxygen]], or [[hypergolic propellant]]s.

Launch vehicles are classified by their orbital payload capacity, ranging from [[small-lift launch vehicle|small-]], [[medium-lift launch vehicle|medium-]], [[heavy-lift launch vehicle|heavy-]] to [[super heavy-lift launch vehicle|super-heavy lift]].