Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Commercial Suborbital Flights

Description

This lecture covers the history and current developments in commercial suborbital flights, including sounding rockets, student rocket teams, Mercury-Redstone manned flights, X-15 flights, SpaceShip One, and SpaceShip Two by Virgin Galactic.

In MOOC

Space Mission Design and Operations

Official source

Related concepts (23)

Spaceflight

Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth, but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit. Such spaceflight operate either by telerobotic or autonomous control.

Sub-orbital spaceflight

A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will not become an artificial satellite nor will it reach escape velocity. For example, the path of an object launched from Earth that reaches the Kármán line (about – above sea level), and then falls back to Earth, is considered a sub-orbital spaceflight.

Private spaceflight

Private spaceflight refers to spaceflight developments that are not conducted by a government agency, such as NASA or ESA. During the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology in collaboration with affiliated design bureaus in the USSR and private companies in the US. They entirely funded both the development of new spaceflight technologies and the operational costs of spaceflight.

Human spaceflight

Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts (American or other), cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers.

Spaceplane

A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to conventional spacecraft, while sub-orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to fixed-wing aircraft. All spaceplanes to date have been rocket-powered but then landed as unpowered gliders. Four types of spaceplanes have successfully launched to orbit, reentered Earth's atmosphere, and landed: the U.

Related lectures (32)

Trends in Space: New Space Economy MOOC: New Space Economy

Delves into the trends of the new space economy, covering launch costs, dedicated services, rideshare missions, spacecraft evolution, satellite constellations, launches, operators, human spaceflight, and space company financing.

Suborbital Spaceflight

Emphasizes understanding concepts, discusses suborbital spaceflight advancements, and inspires future high-speed flying and space travel aspirations.

Future of Solar System Exploration

Explores the past and future of human space exploration, from the moon to Mars and beyond.

Human Spaceflight: Overview MOOC: Space Mission Design and Operations

Covers human spaceflight, Space Shuttle missions, International Space Station, and space telescopes.

Tethered Satellite Missions MOOC: Space Mission Design and Operations