swap_horiz Tianzhou 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

SpaceX's reusable uncrewed cargo capsule that in 2012 became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver supplies to the...

Commercial Spacex Cargo Earth Orbit

8.8 Great

8

Progress cargo spacecraft

Soviet/Russian uncrewed cargo vehicle derived from Soyuz, first launched in 1978, used to resupply space stations includ...

Russian Cargo Transport Iss

8.7 Great

9

Yutu-2 rover

China's second lunar rover, delivered by Chang'e 4 in January 2019 to the Moon's far side, making it the first rover eve...

Rover Moon Current Far Side

8.7 Great

10

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

11

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

12

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

13

Shenzhou

China's crewed spacecraft series that in 2003 carried the first Chinese astronaut to orbit, making China the third natio...

Chinese Transport Crewed Earth Orbit

8.4 Great

14

HTV Kounotori

JAXA's uncrewed H-II Transfer Vehicle that delivered cargo, water, and propellant to the International Space Station acr...

Japanese Cargo Jaxa Iss

8.2 Great

15

ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle)

ESA's large uncrewed cargo vehicle that resupplied the International Space Station with fuel, water, air, and equipment...

European Cargo Esa Iss

8.1 Great

16

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

17

Northrop Grumman Cygnus

Northrop Grumman's uncrewed cargo spacecraft that has resupplied the ISS with provisions and equipment since its first o...

Commercial Cargo Northrop Grumman Iss

7.9 Good

18

Yutu rover

China's first lunar rover, deployed by Chang'e 3 in December 2013, marking the first soft-landing on the Moon since the...

Chinese 2013 Rover Moon

7.8 Good

19

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

20

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