swap_horiz Shenzhou Alternatives

1

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

2

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

3

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

4

Gemini 12

Final Gemini mission, launched November 1966 with Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin, who successfully demonstrated productive e...

Cold War Nasa Crewed Earth Orbit

8.6 Great

5

Soyuz-TM

Soviet crewed spacecraft introduced in 1986 with improved docking and propulsion systems, serving as the primary transpo...

Soviet Transport Crewed Earth Orbit

8.6 Great

6

Chinese Space Station (Tiangong)

China's modular permanent space station assembled in low Earth orbit, beginning with the launch of its Tianhe core modul...

Modular Chinese Space Station Current

8.5 Great

7

Soyuz-TMA

Russian crewed spacecraft introduced in 2002, modified to accommodate taller crew members and serving as the primary Int...

Russian Transport Crewed Earth Orbit

8.4 Great

8

Soyuz-MS

Russian crewed spacecraft introduced in 2016, featuring upgraded communications, navigation systems, and docking equipme...

Russian Transport Current Crewed

8.4 Great

9

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Space Shuttle orbiter that flew 33 missions from 1985 to 2011, including the final Space Shuttle flight, STS-135, and mu...

Reusable Nasa Shuttle Crewed

8.4 Great

10

Vostok 2

Soviet spacecraft that carried Gherman Titov on August 6, 1961, completing 17 orbits and making him the second human to...

Cold War Endurance Soviet Crewed

8.2 Great

11

Soyuz-T

Soviet modernized crewed spacecraft introduced in 1979, featuring improved computers and life support, and restoring the...

Cold War Soviet Transport Crewed

8.2 Great

12

Space Shuttle Endeavour

NASA's fifth and youngest Space Shuttle orbiter, built to replace Challenger and completing 25 spaceflights between 1992...

Reusable Nasa Shuttle Crewed

8.2 Great

13

Gemini 3

First crewed Gemini mission, launched March 23, 1965 with Gus Grissom and John Young, demonstrating the first manual orb...

Cold War Two Person Nasa Crewed

8.0 Great

14

Zhurong rover

China's first Mars rover, which landed in Utopia Planitia in May 2021, making China the second country to successfully o...

Science Chinese Mars Rover

8.0 Great

15

Vostok 5

Soviet spacecraft that carried Valery Bykovsky beginning June 14, 1963, setting a solo spaceflight endurance record of n...

Cold War Endurance Soviet Crewed

7.9 Good

16

Tianzhou

China's uncrewed cargo resupply spacecraft, first flown in 2017, serving as the primary logistics vehicle for the Tiango...

Cargo Chinese Earth Orbit Uncrewed

7.9 Good

17

Soyuz 7K-OK

Soviet crewed spacecraft first flown in 1967 that established the foundational design for the long-running Soyuz program...

Cold War Soviet Transport Crewed

7.6 Good

18

Tiangong-2

China's second space laboratory, launched in September 2016 to test life-support and propellant-refueling technologies a...

Chinese Laboratory Space Station Earth Orbit

7.4 Good

19

Tiangong-1

China's first space laboratory module, launched in 2011 and used for docking and microgravity experiments before an unco...

Chinese Prototype Space Station Earth Orbit

6.9 Fair

20

Boeing CST-100 Starliner

Boeing's commercial crewed capsule developed under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which achieved its first crewed orbit...

Commercial Transport Boeing Crewed

5.4 Mediocre