To bring humans and their equipment into space, NASA is building its biggest rocket ever, the space launch system or SLS. The first version will push 77 tons into orbit. Eventually, the plan is to build a rocket that can carry 143 tons into space—10% more thrust than the Saturn V. (AerospaceGuide.net)
It really wasn’t that long ago when the two greatest superpowers were vying to put satellites into space. Now, 50 nations have their own satellites in low Earth orbit. If you’re a Thailand, say, you can call Space Systems/Loral, a Canadian-owned company based in Palo Alto, California, and tell them you want to put a satellite into geostationary orbit for television broadcasting or military communications. You can have the thing in orbit 25,000 miles above Earth within two years.
