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NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States government's current manned launch vehicle. The winged shuttle orbiter is launched vertically, usually carrying five to seven astronauts (although eight have been carried) and up to 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) of payload into low earth orbit. When its mission is complete, it fires its maneuvering thrusters to drop out of orbit and re-enters the earth's atmosphere. During the descent and landing, the shuttle orbiter acts as a glider and makes a completely unpowered landing.
- This article is about the NASA Space Shuttle program. For the shuttle itself, see Space Shuttle. For information on the Soviet space shuttle, see the article Shuttle Buran.
The Shuttle is the first orbital spacecraft designed for partial reusability. It is also so far the only winged manned spacecraft to achieve orbit and land. It carries large payloads to various orbits, provides crew rotation for the International Space Station (ISS), and performs servicing missions. The orbiter can also recover satellites and other payloads from orbit and return them to Earth, but this capacity has not been used often. However, it has been used to return large payloads from the ISS to earth, as the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has limited capacity for return payloads. Each Shuttle was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or 10 years' operational life.
The program started in the late 1960s and has dominated NASA's manned operations since the mid-1970s. According to the Vision for Space Exploration, use of the Space Shuttle will be focused on completing assembly of the ISS in 2010 (more specifically, the construction completion of the ISS), after which it will be replaced by the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).[citation needed]