what are the biggest payload put into Orbit both dimension size and Weight ?

Here's what I think ?

The US have sent the Vikings to Mars on the Titan Centaur booster rocket, the Viking launch mass Viking Mass was 3,400 kg and to the Red planet was was about 2400 kg. NASA's lander consisted of a six-sided aluminum base with alternate 1.09-m and .56-m long sides

ESA sent up Rosetta - Ariane 5 G+ from Kourou, French Guiana - 3,000 kg

NASA going to the Moon with the Saturn V Launch Vehicle with a Mass 5,500 kg for the Command Module and a Mass of 15,000 kg for the Lunar Module

The Chinese Long March rockets can put large payloads into GTO the CZ3B can put about 4,800 Kg into Geostationary transfer Orbit.

Russian rockets like the Proton have sent the Phobos-2 and Mars6 to the red planet, AMC 15 ( AMERICOM communications satellite ) was put in geostationary orbit, they have launched to Comets and Mars Proton-K can launch about 5,500 Kilograms to the Moon and to Venus 5,300 or about 6200 Kg with orbital insertion hardware attached

Delta-3 rockets lifted 8,300 Kg to LEO, NASA's STS Shuttle launch have put over 21,500 Kg 204 km above our Planet, the Atlas-V-400 series have launched 8,500 Kg to Low Earth Orbit. The JPL Rovers Spirit and Opportunity were lofted into space aboard a Delta 2 rocket.

Europe sent Giotto with Ariane-I to travel to after Comet Halley - mass aprox 1000 kg

Russia have put large payloads into geostationary orbit and Soyuz-capsules have been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket, and Salyut space labs have been launched by Proton rocket, Russia's Energia can lift 65,100 Kg to Low Earth Orbit, there were plans for the Polus and Buran Shuttle and the former USSR Zenit-3SL from the Ukraine can put 2,000 Kg into GEO

Titan-Centaur rocket launched Voyager - Voyager 1 and 2 were almost identical, propulsion rocket was about 4,440 ibs or 2,010 Kgs Voyager itself was about 1,740 ibs or 790 KGs


At the Top there is nothing that compare's to the big launches from the NASA Moon missions and the Saturn-5 but Russia's Energia did look powerful before the collapse of the Soviet Union and could be configured for heavier payloads comparable to (or even greater than) those of Saturn V.

Are there any big launches or rockets that I've forgotten ?

some sites on the launches

you have left out some other nations that have their own rockets like Brazil, Japan, India and others

For Space Transport to the ISS, the US Space Shuttle launch is the most powerful

http://www.averillpark.net/space/booster.html
http://www.braeunig.us/space/center.htm
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/doco...xt/chap6im.htm

IIRC the biggest single payload ever launched was Skylab, weighing in at a very hefty 77,000 kg.

Even if you include the fully fuelled saturn IVb booster with the lunar module and command module of an Apollo moon flight, the net weight at earth orbit is only around 50,000 kg

Skylab was actually a refitted saturn IVb booster. NASA has originally intended to send it up as a rocket stage and then refit it later, but when the Apollo moon missions were cut short, they had a spare Saturn V and decided to send the whole job lot, fully fitted out, in one go.

Since they stopped making Saturn V's, nobody has a hope in heck of launching anything like that big again in the near future...

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Especially recalling that the S-II second stage entered orbit as well, making it by some huge margin the largest payload ever orbited (well, not counting the Echo balloons or loose tethers).

I think the return of a Saturn V type rocket would be a big help to finish off the need constructions for the ISS, I think other people in the Shuttle thread have posted as STS returns there is a 28 launch mandate to bring sciences up to speed and finish off ISS. There are big plans for going to the Moon and putting people on the red planet. Today India is pushing on with their Space launches, ESA is doing good missions and Brazil also want to develop space technology. Chinese have plans for the Moon and China will be doing more manned space flights. Here are some of the older ISS discussions.
http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/vi...amp;highlight=
http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/vi...amp;highlight=
There are also the plans for putting a man on Mars to consider and having a future rocket for this, NASA is also going to do a new version of CEV. The Shuttle-Z was Shuttle-C on steroids, the ultimate development of the shuttle to be used to put Mars expeditions into orbit. It would use 4 SSME's, and a third stage with 181,000 kg of propellant powered by 1 SSSME. Space inside ISS = 43,000 cubic feet, Cost of ISS = $100 billion, Cost per cubic foot on ISS = $2,325,581. The ISS is way over budget, it has lots of problems and is causing trouble, but it still can become one of the best Space Labs ever built, really does provide a safe haven, and that safe haven changes mission contingencies which change vehicle design. Buzz Aldrin and NASA had discussed using ISS as a safe haven in case of a future Shuttle heat shield failure. There may be other reasons due to the Mars vision and political agreements with the USA trying to keep a good face with its international commitments on Space, one of the ideas involves using the ISS as the Orbital Construction Platform this will help the USA build Space Ships from Earth Orbit and future constructions of realy big space stations and if possible, the realy big Space Cable and the US has agreements in writing with foreign governments to finish the job, violating those agreements could hurt future Space plans .

Could the existing technology be used to get to the Moon check out that “Soyuz to the Moon?” from Space Review, 2004 where they say a lunar landing mission might cost $120 million for an Ariane 5 booster. If each mission cost another $120 million for the Soyuz, service module and everything else, then that would be $240 million per flight instead of $5 billion per flight. Lockheed Martin who said they will develop a Shuttle Derived Vehicle, and the Russians were playing with a LOX/Methane engine In 'The Case for Mars', Zubrin says that Pratt and Whitney had tested some of their engines with methane/oxygen and said that they would require little modification. India wants to go to the Moon and the Europeans are also thinking of going to Mars with Aurora, they have an old Shuttle type design - Hermes seems to have predated the X-38 by a decade as ESA program but the ESA/CNES Hermes project was ended, Europe wants to get to the Moon and Mars and has already done Smart-1 and Mars Express. It is thought that current versions of Atlas and Delta rockets also could handle CEV missions. The USA's Aerospace giants are already prepared to do research into this and push NASA’s next big step toward the moon and landing men on Mars. Rather than doing a big SkyLab launch or the big Russian type rockets, or NASA's Saturn 5 moon rocket they are more likely to use existing technology from space shuttles and expendable rockets. Boeing and Lockheed are looking at their new generations of expendable rockets, Boeing’s Delta 4 and Lockheed’s Atlas 5, to see if they can be modified for the job. In the NASA vs ESA thread there is some info on ESA's plan for an Ariane-M to get to big designs to Mars, ESA are looking at the Vega rocket and Kiruna Esrange launch pad for smaller space launches and recently they have given Russians access to the French pad in South America. The Russian Roscosmos have plans for a Mars-Grunt this would be a Phobos sample return mission, they are developing the Klipper Space plane and have ideas to launch a Venus lander planned to survive from 2 months to 1 year on the surface. NASA will need much more powerful rockets to develop their plans for developing the moon-site and setting up a colony on Mars.

But the question is would a Saturn V type rocket help out greatly on the ISS and take pressure off NASA and give a little relief on the STS returns because of their large launch mandates. Large Saturn V type rocket could lift up the heavy loads and take the pressure and strain off the much needed Shuttle flights, maybe it could ?

hi, I'm back after some time.
I think the largest payload ever put into orbit is shuttle orbiter, I agree it is a borderline case, because launcher and payload are the same thing, but orbiter is more or less 100 metric tons, and can pass easily 120 with large and heavy cargo like ISS parts or the late Compton CGRO...

live long and prosper

If you're including launchers as well then it's a close one to call between the shuttle and skylab. The Saturn V second stage weighs 40,000 kg dry, pushing the total mass in orbit to nearly 120,000 kg.

The figures I have are only approximate though, so if anyone has exact figures I curious to see what wins.

[edited for spelling]

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God: I refuse to prove that I exist. For proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing.
Man: But the Babel Fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It proves you exist and so therefore you don't. Q.E.D.

I had a quick look at Space dot com, the NASA site, Russia's space industry, China space plans, Universetoday, thespacesite, Marsdaily and ESA web page

It's difficult to get info on Military surveillance spy-satellites and electronic intelligence spy networks launched into space, and other military craft...so we have to guess at what launces might have happened.

Here's what I think about it


Here are my top 20



1
Skylab USA (Saturn V ) this was the USA's first Space station Skylab orbited Earth 2,476 times during the 171 days and 13 hours of its occupation during the three manned Skylab missions. SkyLab had a oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere at 340 mbar and nominal temperature 21.1C it was visited by crew three times in 1973 and 1974. Skylab had an orbital workshop, living quaters and docking module. This space station had a total mass of about 77,100 kg but during the launch, the station was damaged. A critical meteoroid shield and one of the station's two main solar panels were ripped off and the other solar panel was not fully stretched out. That meant that Skylab had little electrical power and the internal temperature rose to 126 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius). and Astronauts performed ten spacewalks totalling 42 hours 16 minutes. It got power from solar panels, four windmill, each 14.9 m long, in June two astronauts made a 3-1/2 hour EVA to free the jammed solar panel.Water, food and clothing sufficient for all nine astronauts of the three planned Skylab missions were stowed in special containers before launch, food in compartments and freezers in the upper section and wardroom.
The Skylab project was considered completely successful. More than 740 hr were spent in observing the sun by telescopes, and 175,000 solar pictures were returned to earth, as were about 64 km (about 40 mi) of electronic data tape and 46,000 photographs of the earth’s surface. Attached to the outside of the station were large solar "wings", retracted during launch, while covering the workshop area was a thin aluminum shield which sprang out on links for protection against micrometeoroids and excessive solar heat. Skylab logged about 2,000 hours of scientific and medical experiments, including eight solar experiments. The coronal holes in the Sun were discovered.

2
US Shuttle Space Craft is still one of the largest craft ever to go into space, originally there were 6 craft Enterprise, Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, Challanger, and Endeavour. Enterprise was hard tested to see what moves and damage a craft could take. Challenger was lost during a mission and seven astronauts were aboard Challenger flight STS-51L it exploded during liftoff in 1986, while the Columbia Seven lost their lives in 2003 when STS-107 when it broke up over Texas. In the early days, most space shuttles landed in California. The first seven to land at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, were Challenger in February 1984, Challenger October 1984, Discovery November 1984, Discovery January 1985, Discovery April 1985, Atlantis November 1990, and Discovery May 1991. All U.S. space shuttle flights have been launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

3
Russia's Buran Space Shuttle but N-1 was able to lift 90 metric tonnes powered by 30 Kuznetzov NK15 engines but Energia fell into disuse with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the single snowstorm had flown once in 2 orbits around the Earth un-manned on auto-pilot.

4
Apollo and Saturn V 2-stage could send over 71,000 kg to LEO, adding the 3rd stage almost 120,000 kg would put Saturn 5 with Apollo in the number one spot however Apollo was designed to send Payloads and manned space flights to the Moon not as a LEO lifter.
The Apollo programme has been one of mankinds greatest adventures and triumphs, the USA made history by this fantastic flight and having Americans on the Moon.

5
ISS launches the service modules, Russian launch of the ISS cargo block, Service modules and Progress launches. Living quaters, the station module structure like Zarya 20,900 kg and the Zvezda aprox 21,650 kg

6
Russian MIR launches, Kvant-I and Kvant-2 radial module, Russian MIR Mir Core, Kristall and Spektr. Mir Core had a Mass of about 21,000 kg and a lenght and diametre of 13 by 4 metres. The Kvant-1 module used instruments that measured electromagnetic spectra and x-ray emissions providing data and observations for research into the physics of active galaxies, quasars and neutron stars. The Spektr had a mass of about 19,000 kgs while Kristall module designed for docking with the Buran shuttle was about 19,650 kg Priroda module had a mass of about 20,000 kg and was 13 m by 4.3 in size.

7
The Russia launches with other Salyut Space stations - Mass less than 20,000 Kgs The Salyut-One was the 1st space station the first crew were unable to board it due to docking failure, its second crew in a Soyuz remained on board for 23 productive days but a valve in the Soyuz 11 reentry capsule opened when the crew was returning to Earth, killing all three Russian cosmonauts.

8
USA's launches to the ISS the truss antenna, the NASA launch of 3 PMAs of about 3,900 kg the Truss Z1 ITS about 8,500 kg and the the docking ports. The STS launches of the P1 Truss, Solar Array, UNITY, the S1 Truss, and others are about 14,100 Kgs and 12,500 Kgs.

9
Large Ariane 5 launches, the Ariane has launched satellites for France, the USA, Germany, Japan, Canada, Brazil and a host of other nations. Anik F2 weighted about 5,950 kg and was the largest commercial payload ever launched with V163 the standard Ariane 5G (“generic”) launcher from Kourou, French Guyana. The Europeans have plans for Ariane-M a mass launcher for Mars missions and the Moon. The Ariane-V is to Launch Jules Verne, although ATV does not use the powerful ECA version of Ariane 5, which was launched successfully into geostationary orbit in 2005, it does need an Ariane 5 equipped with the powerful Vulcain 2 main engine, the first ATV mission, Jules Verne will have a mass of 19,500 kg there is also a 20,900 kg ATV mass to launch. Ariane-5 launcher, Ariane 5 ECA, is designed to place payloads weighing up to 10 tonnes into geostationary transfer orbit, while the ES ATV version of the Ariane 5 has been designed to place ESA's Automated Transer Vehicle into Space with aPayload mass up to 21 tonnes, the European ATV will supply the ISS with pressurized cargo, water, oxygen and attitude control propellant it could also bring materials and reboost the ISS to a higher altitude . ESA Enhanced Ariane 5 demonstrated heavy-lift capability in 2005 Ariane ECA can carry up to ten tons of payload, ArianeV double can launch 10,000 Kg to 800 Km at 98 inclination. The European Rosetta probe was sent up with weight approximately 3,000 kilograms the Rosetta will perhaps be the first spacecraft to orbit a comet’s nucleus, making a rendezvous with Comet and touch down by releasing a lander that will touch down on its surface, Rosetta will also make fly-bys of Earth and Mars. The Ariane 5 launcher has also placed the European Space Agency's massive Envisat of mass 8,100 kg this is an environmental monitoring spacecraft into Sun-synchronous orbit is the largest satellite ever built in Europe by Astrium for ESA.

10
Chinese manned mission plans, China has used the Long March rocket family, CZ3B was a good rocket and could launch about 4,800 Kg to GTO but one of the rockets failed to launch a payload. China has wanted to improve its rockets for missions to the Moon. The Chinese Shenzhou-V launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, a launch base in the Gobi Desert with mass aprox 7,800 kg China spaceman Yang Liwei had the UN and PRC flags in orbit, the 神舟五号 craft did 14 orbits of the Earth.

11
The Russian Luna Rovers on the Moon with a mass of about 7,500 KGs The landers had dual ramps from which the payload, Lunokhod LEK Rovers could descend to the lunar surface. Lunokhod 1 was a lunar vehicle formed of a tub-like compartment with a large convex lid on eight independently powered wheels. Luna 20 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 20. The Luna 21 spacecraft landed on the Moon and deployed the second Soviet lunar rover Lunokhod 2, the Lunokhod II covered 37 km or 23 miles of terrain and sent back 86 panoramic images and over 80,000 TV pictures it also did mechanical tests of the surface, laser ranging measurements, and other experiments were completed during this time.


12
The Russian Progress-M of aproximate mass 7,200 Kg is the unmanned supply ship which was used to send food and other supplies to the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard Space stations like MIR and is currently launched to deliver materials and food to the Amercians, Russians and other international projects on the ISS station.


13
Soyuz ST could put 5,400 kg into a 400 km orbit above the Earth, and the Soyuz-TM is the Russian manned spacecraft that ferries cosmonauts and astronauts to and from Mir, and can fly to the ISS to help out NASA US space plans and other international projects on the station. The Soyuz has a mass of about 7,100 kg

14
The Cassini-Huygens Mission, the Cassini is the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever constructed by NASA and is a joint mission with the ESA. The Titan IV-B/Centaur launch vehicle carrying the Cassini-Huygens and the spacecraft had a mass of about 5,700 kg the Mothership orbiter's mission consisted of viewing the Moon, a Jupiter fly-by and delivering a probe (called Huygens, provided by Europeans ) to Titan, and then remaining in orbit around Saturn for detailed studies of the planet and its rings and satellites.

15
Satellite launches from Zenit 3SL a Ukraine rocket which can launch up about 5,100 kgs and have lifted up Satellite Communications, the Boeing Odyssey Launch Platform or Sea launch form Pacific Ocean has been used. New design on Zenit-3SL are being studied and they will be able to launch over 5,200 Kg to GTO

16
Russia's Venera mission to Venus, the Venera-Венера was series of probes was developed by the USSR. The early Venera had a Mass of about 1,100 kg while Venera 10 weighed about 5,100 Kg and Venera 9 about 4,900 kg . First to see the surface wad the Venera 7 that landed on Venus, it survived for about 20 minutes before succumbing to the heat and pressure of the hellish planet for the first time man saw color image taken from the surface of Venus by the Soviet Venera 13 lander and other Russian probes returned television pictures of Venus to Earth.

17
Big Delta launches, NASA has done many missions with the Delta rocket, the DeltaII-7920 can launch 5,000 Kg to LEO, Delta-3 could lift 3,800 Kg to GTO while Delta4 Medium should lift 4,200 to GTO the JPL Mars Rover Spirit was launched on a standard 7925-Delta II, the second Mars Rover "Opportunity" images of Meridiani Planum and produced some fantastic images. The Delta rockets have been very good but have seen some failure. Boeing's Delta team are testing improved designs for future Moon projects and having astronauts on Mars.

18
Large Atlas Launches, the Atlas rockets have done very well, the Atlas 3A is able to lift about 4,030 to GTO. In 2003 Atlas V lifted a payload for Greece, a Hellas Sat 2 with a mass of about 3,440 kg. Atlas 3B has the ability to lift 4,500 Kgs to GTO. Some of the original Atlas B and older models had flight control failure and propulsion failure but today the Atlas is a fantastic rocket. Lockheed Martin is pushing a different design than the Delta for possible moon mission and the future plans on manned flights to Mars.

19
Ariane launces from with Europe-Star-1 saw the Ariane V134 with the payload mass of about 4,200 kg the Ariane 42L-3 from Kourou French Guiana can lift about 3,600 kg and sent up stuff for the JSatCorp-Japan such as N-Sat 110 and Superbird JC-Sat 110 and launches for European nations like the Europe-Star FM1 Communications. Ariane 42P had a success rate of 93% in 1994 they had a failure in the Stage 3 gas generator and in 1990 Ariane 44L had an accident when one of the rockets exploded

20
Titan Centaur to Mars, USA's Viking Mars mission and Titan Centaur booster rocket, the Viking mass about 3,400 kg as quoted from above with the objectives of the Viking orbiters were to transport the landers to Mars, perform reconnaissance on the red planet.


If you see an error or would like to correct something please do

a discussion on the large payloads, the old Buran and NASA's Shuttle flights

http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/vi...amp;highlight=

Ok will do, apart from the trivial error, that it was 'Challenger' (sorry), there were actually only 5 initial orbiters. Endeavour was a replacement for Challenger, built after the tragic accident.

Also, in your list you seem to have left out, understandably, the almost-forgotten Pegasus micrometeor detection satellites. These were early, and rather light Saturn IV stages launched on a Saturn I stack. Gives away my age, but they were the 'Iridium flares' of my day. (Anyone remember Echo I/II?) About 10.5 tonnes LEO - see:

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/pegasus.htm

But thanks for the summary, MT, would be cool to collate and sort this stuff.

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*
Enterprise cannot be counted as an orbiter, since it was not
capable of going into orbit.**So four shuttles were built originally
and one more was built after the Challenger accident, mostly
from spare parts.**(Probably made deliberately so that another
shuttle could eventually be built.)

The third entry conflates three vehicles: Buran-- a copy of the
Space Shuttle orbiter; Energia-- a launch vehicle capable of
lifting Buran into orbit; and N1-- Intended to carry a man to
the Moon before the US could do it.

***-- Jeff, in Minneapolis
*

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"The other planets? Well, they just happen to be there, but the
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Doesn't Endeavour's designe differslightly from the other 3, well 2 now?

Edit:

Slightly related question: where are the other shuttles stored?

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Totally right, I should have spotted that. In atonement, here's the megaorbiter (of its time - 1958) that a lot of people have forgotten (like the Pegasuses):

Atlas Score

Sure, it was a PR stunt to beat the USSR for mass (because the real payload was tiny), but the US did actually get nearly 4 tonnes into orbit - in 1958, ye gods!

As a result, there were serious proposals to build space stations out of Atlas balloon tanks proposed for years afterwards, a bit like the suggestions for boosting shuttle ETs a little further and doing the same with them.

I understand the economics of not using these stages, of course, but part of my mind still registers it as a severe waste of mass and energy.

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Last April, Sea Launch just set a record for the largest commsat to GTO, at just over 6000 kg.

Link: http://www.sea-launch.com/past_launches.htm

Furthermore, it was likely the most accurate placement of a commsat to its targeted location in GEO.

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The Energiya-launched Polyus (counting both the 80 ton weapon itself and the TKS ferry/FGB tug that it was launched with--that malfunctioned) edges Skylab out by a bit IIRC.

The automated Buran was the largest unmanned spaceplane that ever flew and returned.

http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/sp...an/page_02.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran

Here is a nice page on Heavy-Lift discussions with some links--and how RAND wants to sabotage Griffin.
http://xprizenews.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15504#15504

They need a good design with the Heavy Lift Launch for Lunar Exploration, space stations and onto Mars, many have looked at possible Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) design. There may be a side-mounted heavy lifter, or the "Stick," which uses a single solid-rocket booster and Griffin's heavy 30 ton CEV has moved the bar up beyond what the current Delta IV or Atlas V designs, or any other launch system out there. Chinese have their own space plans, Russia will be launching Soyuz from French Guiana talking of Soyuz trips to the Moon and ESA are looking at Klipper. NASA have many possible roads to take, for the big Mars-bound cargo payloads but also for the CEV.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205/01sli/boeing.jpg
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2005...ch.alt.lrg.jpg
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205...heedmartin.jpg