National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Space Shuttle

RetiredReusable
Overview
/01The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.
Manufacturer
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Variant
N/A
Alias
N/A
Maiden Flight
April 12, 1981
Technical Specifications
/0256.1 m
Length
8 m
Diameter
2 t
Launch Mass
28200 kN
Liftoff Thrust
27500 kg
LEO Capacity
—
GTO Capacity
Launch Record
/03135
Total Launches
133
Successful
2
Failed
98.5%
Success Rate
0
Attempted Landings
0
Successful Landings
0
Failed Landings
0
Consecutive Successes