I grew up in Orlando, FL and it was a common enough experience to see a space launch from our front yard. I wasn’t the spectacular, earth-shaking experience of being over at the beach, but it was still fascinating. At school we all knew the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, but the especially interested kids knew the lift rockets: Delta, Saturn, Atlas, Titan and others. Eventually it became routine and our interests moved on to other concerns.These days it seems we subcontract our rocket launches. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy flew 96 times in 2023… 96 times! … and every launch was a success. Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo into Earth orbit, and beyond. The first launch in 2018 sent Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster into space, last seen heading towards Mars…. seriously.  Falcon Heavy will be used in the logistics/cargo role – UPS for space.

NASA plans to use if Space Launch System (SLS) for astronaut travel

SpaceX will have competitors. The European Space Agency will unveil its Ariane 6 rocket this year. A Boeing/Lockheed Martin joint venture will launch the Vulcan – with engines provided by Blue Origin, a Jeff Bezos company (he of Amazon fame). I wonder if Amazon Prime delivery will be available for moon-based customers? There is also the Japanese Space Agency’s J3 rocket. (I think they need a catchy nickname rather than J3 … come to think of it, NASA needs a better name than SLS)

And in case you miss the Space Shuttle, the Nevada based Sierra Space, has developed the Dream Chaser which comes in a cargo-only version. The crewed variant is planned to carry up to seven people and cargo to and from low Earth orbit. Dream Chaser looks like the sports car version of Space Shuttle.

Lots going on… and going up!