Scale models showing representative sizes of
the rockets used for the US manned space programs.
From the left: Redstone, Atlas, Titan II, Saturn V
From the left: Redstone, Atlas, Titan II, Saturn V
While all manned spaceflights from the Russia and the former Soviet Union have used variants of the R-7 rocket, and China has used the CZ-2F variant of the Long March series, the United States has used a number of different vehicles to put people into space.
Redstone was first, used for the early sub-orbital Mercury flights. Then came the Atlas for the remaining Mercury flights. Titan II was used for Gemini, and the Saturn and Saturn V for Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP. The Space Transport System (Shuttle) was used until 2011.
The Ares was the intended follow to the spacde shuttle, but was cancelled after a single test flight. It was in turn replaced by the SLS (Space Launch System).
Civilian launch vehicles also play a part in the US Space program. SpaceX is using the Falcon 9, while the Boeing Starliner uses Atlas V from ULA (United Launch Alliance).
These pages are intended to be brief overviews for each family and not extensive or detailed histories.
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Last updated: 28 February 2026 20:38:17.
