How many times has Space Shuttle flown?

Space Shuttle has flown 135 orbital missions, with 133 successes and 2 failures.

What is Space Shuttle's success rate?

Space Shuttle has a success rate of 98.5%, from 133 successful flights out of 135 attempts.

When is the next Space Shuttle launch?

Space Shuttle has no flight on the public manifest at the moment. Scheduled missions appear here as soon as a launch date is filed.

How much can Space Shuttle lift to orbit?

Space Shuttle is rated for 27,500 kg to low Earth orbit. These are the operator's published maximums and assume an expendable or fully optimised configuration.

Is Space Shuttle reusable?

Yes. Space Shuttle recovers and reflies at least one stage. Reusable does not mean the whole vehicle comes back — usually it is the first stage.

Vehicle file · LV-493

Space Shuttle

National Aeronautics and Space Administration · RETIRED

Space Shuttle is a partly reusable orbital launch vehicle built by National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It stands 56.1 m tall, lifts 27,500 kg to low Earth orbit, first flew on 12 April 1981. It has flown 135 times with 133 successes, a success rate of 98.5%. It has no flight on the public manifest at the moment.

Specification

Vehicle spec sheet

OPS-12/SPEC

PUBLISHED

Height56.1 m

Diameter8.0 m

Payload to LEO27,500 kg

Payload to GTONOT PUBLISHED

Maiden flight12 April 1981

ReusableYes — stage recovery

Launch cost$450,000,000M

StatusRetired

Flight record

Reliability

OPS-12/STAT

ON RECORD

Total flights135

Successful133

Failed2

Success rate98.5%

Landing attempts0

Landing successN/A

Scheduled0

About Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Upcoming flights

Manifest

OPS-12/MAN

EMPTY

No Space Shuttle flight is filed in the current manifest window. Missions appear here the moment a launch date is published.

All upcoming launches

Common questions

How many times has Space Shuttle flown?: Space Shuttle has flown 135 orbital missions, with 133 successes and 2 failures.
What is Space Shuttle's success rate?: Space Shuttle has a success rate of 98.5%, from 133 successful flights out of 135 attempts.
When is the next Space Shuttle launch?: Space Shuttle has no flight on the public manifest at the moment. Scheduled missions appear here as soon as a launch date is filed.
How much can Space Shuttle lift to orbit?: Space Shuttle is rated for 27,500 kg to low Earth orbit. These are the operator's published maximums and assume an expendable or fully optimised configuration.
Is Space Shuttle reusable?: Yes. Space Shuttle recovers and reflies at least one stage. Reusable does not mean the whole vehicle comes back — usually it is the first stage.