swap_horiz LightSail 2 Alternatives

1

Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was a polished metal sphere with radio transmitters, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Its significance li...

Cold War Satellite Soviet First

9.2 Excellent

2

Explorer 1

Explorer 1 was the first artificial satellite successfully placed in Earth orbit by the United States. Launched in 1958,...

Cold War Satellite Nasa Earth Orbit

9.2 Excellent

3

Telstar 1

Telstar 1 was a pioneering American communications satellite launched in 1962 by AT&T. Its significance lies in being th...

Cold War Att Satellite Communications

9.2 Excellent

4

Vostok 6

The Vostok 6 was a Soviet crewed spacecraft responsible for carrying cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova into Earth orbit on...

Cold War Soviet First Woman Crewed

9.2 Excellent

5

Mercury Friendship 7

The Mercury Friendship 7 was a single-seat capsule designed for crewed orbital missions during the Cold War. It carried...

Cold War Nasa First Us Orbit Crewed

9.2 Excellent

6

SpaceX Crew Dragon

The SpaceX Crew Dragon is a spacecraft designed for transporting cargo and astronauts to Earth orbit. Notably, it repres...

Commercial Spacex Current Crewed

9.1 Excellent

7

SpaceX Cargo Dragon

The SpaceX Cargo Dragon is a class of reusable uncrewed spacecraft developed to deliver supplies, experiments, and equip...

Commercial Spacex Cargo Earth Orbit

8.8 Great

8

Gemini 12

Gemini 12 was a 1966 crewed spaceflight and the final mission of NASA's Project Gemini. Launched in November 1966, the s...

Cold War Nasa Crewed Earth Orbit

8.6 Great

9

Soyuz-TM

Soyuz-TM is a crewed spacecraft developed by the Soviet Union as an upgrade to the earlier Soyuz-T model. Introduced in...

Soviet Transport Crewed Earth Orbit

8.6 Great

10

Vanguard 1

Vanguard 1 is an American satellite launched on March 17, 1958, as part of the U.S. Navy's Vanguard project. It was the...

Cold War Solar Powered Satellite Nasa

8.5 Great

11

Soyuz-TMA

The Soyuz-TMA is a Russian crewed spacecraft introduced in 2002 to serve as the primary transport vehicle for the Intern...

Russian Transport Crewed Earth Orbit

8.4 Great

12

Soyuz-MS

Soyuz-MS is a modernized Russian crewed spacecraft developed for transporting astronauts to the International Space Stat...

Russian Transport Current Crewed

8.4 Great

13

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired NASA orbiter that completed 33 space missions during its operational lifetime from 1...

Reusable Nasa Shuttle Crewed

8.4 Great

14

Shenzhou

Shenzhou is China's crewed spacecraft series developed to support human spaceflight missions in low Earth orbit. In 2003...

Chinese Transport Crewed Earth Orbit

8.4 Great

15

MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission)

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) is a four-spacecraft constellation launched on March 12, 2015, to study m...

Nasa Current Magnetosphere Probe

8.3 Great

16

Vostok 2

Vostok 2 was a Soviet crewed spaceflight launched on August 6, 1961, carrying cosmonaut Gherman Titov. The mission made...

Cold War Endurance Soviet Crewed

8.2 Great

17

Soyuz-T

The Soyuz-T was a Soviet crewed spacecraft developed as an modernization of the earlier Soyuz model, conducting its init...

Cold War Soviet Transport Crewed

8.2 Great

18

Space Shuttle Endeavour

Space Shuttle Endeavour is a retired NASA orbiter that served as the fifth and final operational vehicle in the Space Sh...

Reusable Nasa Shuttle Crewed

8.2 Great

19

Sputnik 2

Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit by the Soviet Union, lifting off on November 3, 1957. The...

Cold War Satellite Soviet Earth Orbit

8.1 Great

20

Gemini 3

Gemini 3 was the first crewed mission of NASA's Project Gemini, successfully launching on March 23, 1965. The two-person...

Cold War Two Person Nasa Crewed

8.0 Great