Editing Launch vehicle (section)

==General information==
[[Orbital spaceflight]] requires a [[satellite]] or [[spacecraft]] payload to be accelerated to very high velocity. In the vacuum of space, reaction forces must be provided by the ejection of mass, resulting in the [[rocket equation]]. The physics of spaceflight are such that [[Multistage rocket|rocket stages]] are typically required to achieve the desired orbit.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

[[Expendable launch vehicle]]s are designed for one-time use, with boosters that usually separate from their payload and disintegrate during [[atmospheric reentry]] or on contact with the ground. In contrast, [[reusable launch vehicle|reusable launch vehicles]] are designed to be recovered intact and launched again. The [[Falcon 9]] is an example of a reusable launch vehicle.<ref name="nsw20130328">{{cite news |last=Lindsey |first=Clark |title=SpaceX moving quickly towards fly-back first stage |url=http://www.newspacewatch.com/articles/spacex-moving-quickly-towards-fly-back-first-stage.html |access-date=29 March 2013 |newspaper=NewSpace Watch |date=28 March 2013 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=16 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416030256/http://www.newspacewatch.com/articles/spacex-moving-quickly-towards-fly-back-first-stage.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> As of 2023, all reusable launch vehicles that were ever operational have been partially reusable, meaning some components are recovered and others are not. This usually means the recovery of specific stages, usually just the first stage, but sometimes specific components of a rocket stage may be recovered while others are not. The [[Space Shuttle]], for example, recovered and reused its [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|solid rocket boosters]], the [[Space Shuttle orbiter]] that also acted as a second stage, and the engines used by the core stage (the [[RS-25]], which was located at the back of the orbiter), however the fuel tank that the engines sourced fuel from, which was separate from the engines, was not reused.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

For example, the [[European Space Agency]] is responsible for the [[Ariane V]], and the [[United Launch Alliance]] manufactures and launches the [[Delta IV rocket|Delta IV]] and [[Atlas V]] rockets.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

===Launch platform locations===
[[File:世界最大固体运载火箭引力一号成功首飞1.png|thumb|Sea launch by a [[China|Chinese]] company [[Orienspace]]]]
Launchpads can be located on land ([[spaceport]]), on a fixed ocean platform ([[San Marco platform|San Marco]]), on a mobile ocean platform ([[Sea Launch]]), and on a [[Submarine-based launch vehicles|submarine]]. Launch vehicles can also be launched from the [[Air launch to orbit|air]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

===Flight regimes===
{{See also|Sub-orbital spaceflight|Orbital spaceflight|Trans-lunar injection|Interplanetary spaceflight}}

A launch vehicle will start off with its payload at some location on the surface of the Earth. To reach orbit, the vehicle must travel vertically to leave the [[atmospheric drag|atmosphere]] and horizontally to prevent re-contacting the ground. The [[orbital speed|required velocity]] varies depending on the orbit but will always be extreme when compared to velocities encountered in normal life.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Launch vehicles provide varying degrees of performance. For example, a satellite bound for [[Geostationary orbit]] (GEO) can either be directly inserted by the [[upper stage]] of the launch vehicle or launched to a [[geostationary transfer orbit]] (GTO). A direct insertion places greater demands on the launch vehicle, while GTO is more demanding of the spacecraft. Once in orbit, launch vehicle upper stages and satellites can have overlapping capabilities, although upper stages tend to have orbital lifetimes measured in hours or days while spacecraft can last decades.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

===Distributed launch===
Distributed launch involves the accomplishment of a goal with multiple spacecraft launches. A large spacecraft such as the [[International Space Station]] can be constructed by assembling modules in orbit, or in-space [[propellant transfer]] conducted to greatly increase the [[delta-V]] capabilities of a [[outer space|cislunar or deep space]] vehicle. Distributed launch enables space missions that are not possible with single launch architectures.<ref name=kutter2015>
{{cite conference |last1=Kutter|first1=Bernard |last2=Monda|first2=Eric |last3=Wenner|first3=Chauncey |last4=Rhys|first4=Noah |title=Distributed Launch - Enabling Beyond LEO Missions |url=https://www.ulalaunch.com/docs/default-source/extended-duration/distributed-launch---enabling-beyond-leo-missions-(aiaa-space-2015).pdf |conference=AIAA 2015 |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |year=2015 |access-date=23 March 2018 }}</ref>

Mission architectures for distributed launch were explored in the 2000s<ref name=chung2007>
{{cite conference |last1=Chung|first1=Victoria I. |last2=Crues|first2=Edwin Z. |last3=Blum|first3=Mike G. |last4=Alofs|first4=Cathy |title=An Orion/Ares I Launch and Ascent Simulation - One Segment of the Distributed Space Exploration Simulation (DSES) |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20070030309.pdf |conference=AIAA 2007 |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |year=2007 |access-date=23 March 2018 }}</ref> 
and launch vehicles with integrated distributed launch capability built in began development in 2017 with the [[SpaceX Starship|Starship]] design. The standard Starship launch architecture is to refuel the spacecraft in [[low Earth orbit]] to enable the craft to send high-mass payloads on much more [[delta V|energetic]] missions.<ref name=sn20170929>
{{cite news |last=Foust|first=Jeff | url=http://spacenews.com/musk-unveils-revised-version-of-giant-interplanetary-launch-system/ | title=Musk unveils revised version of giant interplanetary launch system | work=[[SpaceNews]] | date=29 September 2017 |access-date=23 March 2018 }}</ref>