NASA is still arguably the biggest player in space, but they don’t accomplish this alone. The agency makes use of various rockets built by companies like Northrop Grumman, the United Launch Alliance, SpaceX and Rocket Lab.
Here is a breakdown of the aerospace launch vehicles NASA currently uses — not including retired rockets such as Saturn V.
Atlas V rockets currently come in two series — the 400 and 500. These rockets were developed by the United Launch Alliance — a spacecraft engineering company formed in 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, and Space & Security.
They can carry various sizes of payloads, depending on what needs to be delivered to orbit. The 400 series can carry up to three rocket boosters while the 500 series can carry up to five for larger payloads.
Rocket Lab was founded in New Zealand before moving to ...
