Spacecraft used to transfer cargo from one orbit to another
Reusable, modular 1969 NASA vision Space Tug (canceled)The Jupiter bound Galileo spacecraft and its attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) being deployed after being launched by the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-34 mission. The IUS was an optional payload for missions where the Space Shuttle was used to take a payload beyond Low Earth Orbit. By contrast, the Space Shuttle external tank was always included and used whenever a shuttle launch took place.
A space tug is a type of spacecraft used to transfer spaceborne cargo from one orbit to another orbit with different energy characteristics. The term can include expendable upper stages or spacecraft that are not necessarily a part of their launch vehicle. However, it can also refer to a spacecraft that transports payload already in space to another location in outer space, such as in the Space Transportation System concept. An example would be moving a spacecraft from a low Earth orbit (LEO) to a higher-energy orbit like a geostationary transfer orbit, a lunar transfer, or an escape trajectory.
The term is often used to refer to reusable, space-based vehicles. Some previously proposed or built space tugs include the NASA 1970s STS proposal[1] or the proposed Russian Parom, and has sometimes been used to refer to expendable upper stages,[1] such as Fregat,[2] Spaceflight Industries Sherpa, and the Inertial Upper Stage, when such stages are optional.
^ ab"Space Tug". Astronautix. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
^Zak, Anatoly. Chabot, Alain (ed.). "Fregat space tug". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
A spacetug is a type of spacecraft used to transfer spaceborne cargo from one orbit to another orbit with different energy characteristics. The term...
the International Space Station (ISS), with substantial contribution by Russia. The ISS was completed in 2011. The MSFC spacetug was designed to handle...
orbital transfer vehicles, sometimes called spacetugs, to move satellites and payloads throughout space. The size of a dishwasher, a Mira orbital transfer...
launch. The Momentus Vigoride-3 spacetug was one of several private spacetugs launched by that mission. The Vigoride tug carried several payloads for two...
2003 Space Shuttle (STS-124) during launch, May 2008 Space Launch System and Artemis 1 at launch, Nov 2022 Concepts and plans Concept of spacetug cargo...
uncrewed spacetug ordered by NASA in the late 1970s to re-boost Skylab using the Space Shuttle. TRS was a design for an uncrewed robotic spacetug designed...
Mir | Spacetug poised for launch to Russia's Mir station". spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 2022-08-26. "Spaceflight Now | Mir | Deorbiting spacetug arrives...
orbit (LEO), as well as a spacetug for transfers between orbits and the Moon, and a reusable nuclear upper stage for deep space travel.: 163–166 After...
Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in space –...
Vigoride spacetug service vehicles into orbit. The contract is for one launch, with an option for five additional missions. In June 2020, Relativity Space announced...
orbits, and potentially interstellar space. Because of this capability, Blue Origin markets Blue Ring as a spacetug as well as a satellite support platform...
Sherpa Light UP Sherpa Bi, a German paraglider design SHERPA (spacetug), a kick start spacetug and satellite dispenser Agelena sherpa, a spider of family...
eco-friendly technologies such as the fuel known as Ecosene and the Skyrora SpaceTug. Skyrora is headquartered in Glasgow, while its design and manufacturing...
have been able to launch Kliper into space because of weight reduction resulting in the use of the Parom as a spacetug. With regard to launch sites for Kliper...
The Parom (ferry in Russian) is a spacetug that has been proposed by RKK Energia. The purpose of this vehicle is to replace most of the Progress' active...
Service Infrastructure for Space (OASIS). Its analysis claimed that the first phase, placing the "Node 1" spaceport with spacetug services in low Earth orbit...
Impulse Space, and Launcher. The first nitrous oxide-based system ever flown in space was by D-Orbit onboard their ION Satellite Carrier (spacetug) in 2021...
some space capsules used only in orbit. It is separated from the crewed reentry capsule before reentry. The orbital module provides 'habitat' space to use...
entire lunar surface and a wide range of lunar orbits and double as a spacetug for visiting craft. The PPE originally started development at the Jet...
at the Kennedy Space Center launch site. Other components of the system included a permanent, modular space station; reusable spacetug; and nuclear interplanetary...
August 2021). "UARX Space choses Dawn Aerospace to propulse its OSSIE spacetug". SpaceWatch.Global. Retrieved 19 August 2022. "UARX Space selects Dawn Aerospace...
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