Even before the launch of Sputnik 1, there were various types of launch vehicle designs. The launch vehicle designs described below are either canceled or never left the drawing board.
20th century
Name Designer Proposed Canceled Von Braun ferry rocket Wernher von Braun 1950s North American X-15B USAF and NACA 1958 Mercury-Jupiter NASA 1959 Saturn C-2 1959 1962 Saturn C-3 Saturn C-4 Nova BAC Mustard BAC 1960s 1967 NEXUS General Dynamics Saturn C-5N NASA 1972 Saturn INT-20 UR-700 Vladimir Chelomei Saenger (spacecraft) Eugen Sänger, Junkers, MBB, DLR 1995 Saturn C-8 NASA 1962 1962 Sea Dragon Robert Truax Douglas SASSTO Philip Bono 1967 Martin Marietta Spacemaster Martin Marietta Saturn V-A NASA 1968 Saturn V-C Saturn V-Centaur Saturn V-D Saturn INT-21 1970s Chrysler SERV Chrysler 1971 Saturn-Shuttle NASA 1972 Hermes CNES and ESA 1975 1992 Rockwell X-30 Rockwell International 1980 1993 British Aerospace HOTOL British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce 1982 1989 Trans Atmospheric Vehicle Lockheed Martin ~1985 Shuttle-C NASA 1984 1995 VentureStar Lockheed Martin 1990s 2001 National Launch System NASA 1991 1992 Black Horse Mitchell Burnside Clapp 1993 1996 Kankoh-maru Japanese Rocket Society K-1 Rocketplane Kistler 1994 2007 Roton Rotary Rocket 1996 2001 Magnum NASA 2004
21st century
Name Designer Proposed Canceled Ares IV NASA 2000s 2010 Ares V Lite Jupiter DIRECT 2010 Falcon 1e SpaceX 2011 Haas ARCAspace Orbital Space Plane Program NASA 2002 2004 Falcon 5 SpaceX 2003 2005 Galaxy Express Galaxy Express Corporation 2009 Ares I NASA 2005 2010 Ares V Rocketplane XP Rocketplane Kistler 2011 Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle NASA 2009 2010 Liberty ATK and Astrium 2011 2012 Falcon 9 Air SpaceX Mars Colonial Transporter 2012 2016 Interplanetary Transport System 2016 2017 Big Falcon Rocket 2017 2018 OmegANorthrop Grumman 2016 2020
See also
Comparison of orbital launch systems Non-rocket spacelaunch List of orbital launch systems List of private spaceflight companies#Crew and cargo transport vehicles Spaceplane List of crewed lunar lander designs
Further reading SP-4221 The Space Shuttle Decision Chapter 8 (NASA)
T.A. Heppenheimer - SP-4221 The Space Shuttle Decision (NASA, 1998)
External links INTRODUCTION TO FUTURE LAUNCH VEHICLE PLANS [1963-2001] by Marcus Lindroos (Updated 6/15/2001) Space Future - Vehicle Designs Category:Proposed or planned spacecraft (Wikimedia Commons) 10 Space Shuttles which never flew (Lockheed Starclipper, Chrysler SERV, Phase B Shuttles, Rockwell C-1057, Shuttle C, Air Launched Sortie Vehicle (ALSV), Hermes, Buran, Shuttle II, Lockheed Martin VentureStar)