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Almaz (Алмаз)
Almaz (Алмаз, "Diamond") was a secret Soviet military space station program run by Vladimir Chelomei's OKB-52 and flown from 1973 to 1976 under the cover name Salyut.
ALOS (satellite)
ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite), nicknamed Daichi, was a Japanese Earth observation satellite launched by JAXA in 2006 for mapping, disaster monitoring, and resource surveying until 2011.
ALOS PALSAR
PALSAR, the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar, was an imaging radar on Japan's ALOS satellite providing all-weather land observation from 2006 to 2011.
Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer
The alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) is a contact instrument that determines the elemental composition of rocks and soil, flown on Pathfinder, the Mars Exploration Rovers, and Curiosity.
Alton D. Romig Jr.
Alton D. Romig Jr. is an American materials scientist and engineering executive who spent over 30 years at Sandia National Laboratories and led Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works.
Alyssa Carson
Alyssa Carson, known by the call sign Blueberry, is an American astrobiology researcher and doctoral student known for her ambition to become an astronaut and travel to Mars.
Amateur liquid-fuel rocket engines
Amateur liquid-fuel rocket engines are bipropellant rocket engines built by hobbyists and university teams, typically pressure-fed and burning nitrous oxide or LOX with alcohol or kerosene.
Amateur rocketry
Amateur rocketry is non-commercial research rocketry in which individuals or small groups design, build, and fly their own rockets and experimental motors, from small solids to liquid engines.
Amazon Leo
Amazon Leo, formerly Project Kuiper until its renaming in November 2025, is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite broadband constellation of 3,236 planned satellites, competing with SpaceX's Starlink.
Amazonia-1
Amazonia-1 is a Brazilian optical Earth observation satellite launched on 28 February 2021 and operated by INPE to monitor Amazon deforestation and agriculture across Brazil.
American Rocketry Challenge
The American Rocketry Challenge is an annual US student model rocket competition for grades 6 to 12, run by the Aerospace Industries Association and National Association of Rocketry.
Amit Kshatriya
Amit Kshatriya is an American aerospace engineer who became NASA's associate administrator, the agency's highest-ranking civil servant, in September 2025 after leading the Moon to Mars Program.
Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant
Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) is a solid rocket propellant combining ammonium perchlorate oxidizer, powdered aluminum, and a polymer binder, powering military missiles and launch boosters for over five decades.
Andøya Space
Andøya Space, formerly the Andøya Rocket Range and later Andøya Space Center, is a Norwegian aerospace company founded in 1962 that operates sounding-rocket launches and the Andøya Spaceport.
Angara (Ангара) (rocket family)
Angara (Ангара) is a Russian rocket family developed by Khrunichev, first flown in 2014 to replace Proton and Rockot; its heavy Angara-A5 first launched from Vostochny in 2024.
Anik (satellite)
Anik is a series of Canadian geostationary communications satellites operated by Telesat Canada, beginning with Anik A1 in 1972, which made Canada the first country with a domestic satellite in geostationary orbit.
Animals in space
Animals in space, also called animal spaceflight, are non-human organisms sent aboard rockets and orbiting laboratories, beginning with fruit flies and the Soviet dog Laika in 1957.
Anne McClain
Anne McClain, also known as Anne Charlotte McClain, is a NASA astronaut and Army colonel who flew to the International Space Station in 2018 and commanded a 2025 mission.
Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari is an Iranian-American engineer and entrepreneur who in 2006 became the first female private space explorer and first Muslim woman in space, and now leads XPRIZE.
Antares (rocket)
Antares, originally Taurus II, is a two-stage medium-lift rocket built by Northrop Grumman that has launched Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS from Wallops Island since 2013.
Antenna deployment mechanism
An antenna deployment mechanism is the mechanical system that stows a spacecraft antenna for launch, releases it in orbit, and moves it into its operating position.
Antimatter propulsion spacecraft
An antimatter propulsion spacecraft, or antimatter rocket, is a proposed spacecraft powered by antimatter annihilation, the highest energy density reaction known; none has been built, only design studies.
Apollo (spacecraft)
Apollo was NASA's three-part crewed spacecraft, with a command module, service module, and lunar module, that carried astronauts to the Moon between 1968 and 1975.
Apollo 1
Apollo 1, officially AS-204, was planned as NASA's first crewed Apollo flight until a fire during a pre-launch rehearsal at Cape Canaveral killed its three astronauts in 1967.
Apollo 10
Apollo 10, also known as Apollo X, was a May 1969 NASA mission and dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing, flown by Stafford, Young, and Cernan.
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was the 1969 NASA mission on which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the first crewed landing on the Moon, while Michael Collins orbited above.
Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the United States' second crewed Moon landing, in November 1969, commanded by Pete Conrad, achieving the first precision landing near the Surveyor 3 probe.
Apollo 13
Apollo 13, the seventh crewed Apollo mission, aborted its 1970 lunar landing after an oxygen tank exploded, but Jim Lovell and his crew returned safely.
Apollo 14
Apollo 14 was the third Apollo mission to land on the Moon, reaching the Fra Mauro highlands in February 1971 with Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell.
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the fourth crewed lunar landing of NASA's Apollo program, launched on July 26, 1971, with Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin.