What Are Suborbital Spacecraft Used For?

In their 70-year history, suborbital spacecraft have been developed from their initial use as missiles to ferrying tourists into space.

In 1942, the first suborbital spacecraft was a German V-2 missile, which reached an altitude of 189 km. It was the first man-made object of any kind to reach space and the forerunner to a number of missile development programs.

At the beginning of the 21st century, suborbital spacecraft were developed for space tourism use. Spacecraft for these tourist flights are primarily designed to achieve the altitude required for reaching space. In 2004, the Ansari X Prize competition offered a prize for suborbital spacecraft developed in this class, which was one by SpaceShipOne. The following year, Sir Richard Branson announced the creation of Virgin Galactic and plans for a 9-seater suborbital spacecraft, VSS Enterprise.

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