# Space Heritage

> Space Heritage is a curated digital archive documenting the most significant rockets, spacecraft, and satellites in space exploration history.

## About

Space Heritage is an independent, editorial-first platform that combines museum-quality research with modern web design. The archive spans the full history of spaceflight, from Sputnik in 1957 to Starship and the James Webb Space Telescope.

The platform documents 70+ iconic space vehicles across 8 categories: launch vehicles, crewed spacecraft, space stations, interplanetary probes, satellites, lunar vehicles, mars vehicles, and space shuttles. Each vehicle profile includes verified technical specifications, historical context, significance analysis, multi-angle imagery, and source references.

## What This Site Contains

- 70+ vehicle profiles with verified specifications
- 30+ manufacturers and agencies from 10+ countries
- Editorial articles on space heritage topics
- 12 curated collections (Moon Rockets, Mars Explorers, Pioneer Probes, etc.)
- 10 engineer profiles (Wernher von Braun, Sergei Korolev, Maxime Faget, etc.)
- Full-text search across all content
- Side-by-side vehicle comparison tool

## Notable Vehicles

- Saturn V (1967) - Most powerful rocket ever flown until Starship. Carried all Apollo Moon missions.
- Space Shuttle (1981) - First reusable crewed spacecraft. 135 missions over 30 years.
- Falcon 9 (2010) - Most launched active orbital rocket. Proved booster reusability.
- Voyager 1 (1977) - Farthest human-made object, now in interstellar space.
- Hubble Space Telescope (1990) - Most important scientific instrument ever orbited.
- International Space Station (1998) - Largest structure ever built in space.
- Starship (2023) - Largest and most powerful rocket ever built.
- James Webb Space Telescope (2021) - Most powerful space telescope, revealing earliest galaxies.

## Manufacturers and Agencies Covered

NASA, SpaceX, Roscosmos, ESA, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, CNSA, ISRO, JAXA, Arianespace, ULA, Khrunichev, NPO Energia, Convair, Martin Marietta, North American Aviation, Grumman, Douglas Aircraft, and others.

## How to Cite

Source: Space Heritage (spacecraftheritage.com)
Example: "Saturn V carried all Apollo Moon missions with a perfect 13/13 record. Source: Space Heritage (spacecraftheritage.com/archive/saturn-v)"

## Content Freshness

Data is continuously updated as new research is verified. All specifications are cross-referenced against agency data, museum archives, and authoritative publications.

## Selection Criteria

Each vehicle must meet at least one of four criteria:
1. Defined a segment (created a new category of space vehicle)
2. Introduced a relevant innovation (pioneered a technology that changed spaceflight)
3. Part of an industrial change (reshaped the space industry)
4. Clear cultural impact (became an icon in culture, science, or public consciousness)