Rockets
What each orbital rocket is, how it gets to space and back, and how it measures up. Every figure sourced; every gap shown.
The largest and most powerful rocket ever flown, designed so both stages fly home to be reused: the booster is caught by its launch tower, and the ship is meant to land itself.
The rocket that made reuse routine: its first stage lands upright after nearly every launch, and one booster has now flown 37 times.
Blue Origin's heavy-lift rocket: seven methane engines on a booster built to fly at least 25 times, landing on a ship at sea after each launch.
A stainless-steel, methane-fuelled reusable rocket from a private Chinese company. In August 2026 it became the first Chinese rocket to land its booster on legs on land.
A medium-lift rocket built from carbon fibre, with a nose cone that opens like a clamshell and stays attached, so the whole first stage, fairing included, can fly back and be reused.
Flight counts change often; each is dated. Payload figures assume the booster is recovered where the rocket is designed for it.
