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Unity (ISS module)
Unity, also called Node 1, is a connecting module of the International Space Station and its first U.S.-built component, launched in 1998 and mated with the Russian Zarya module.
Universal Space Network
Universal Space Network was an American commercial satellite ground station network founded in 1996 by Pete Conrad, commander of Apollo 12 and third man on the Moon.
Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine
Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), also called 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, is a toxic, storable liquid rocket fuel that ignites on contact with nitrogen tetroxide, used in the Proton rocket and Aerozine 50.
UP Aerospace
UP Aerospace is a privately held American suborbital launch company founded by former Lockheed Martin engineer Jerry Larson, flying research and educational payloads on SpaceLoft rockets from Spaceport America, New Mexico, since 2006.
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was a NASA observatory launched in 1991 to study Earth's upper atmosphere, confirming that chlorine chemistry causes the Antarctic ozone hole.
Uragan (satellite bus)
Uragan (Ураган, "hurricane") is the family of satellite buses used for Russia's GLONASS navigation satellites, first launched in 1982 and developed through the Uragan-M and lighter Uragan-K generations.
Uranus Orbiter and Probe
The Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) is a proposed NASA Flagship mission to orbit Uranus and deliver an atmospheric probe, named the decade's top priority by the 2023 decadal survey.
US-P
US-P, Russian Upravlenniye Sputnik Passivny, was a series of Soviet passive electronic ocean reconnaissance satellites, known in Western literature as EORSAT, first launched in 1974.
USA (satellite series)
The USA satellite series is the designation system the US Department of Defense has used since 1984, assigning each military satellite a number such as USA-1.
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket, also known as the A-4 or Vergeltungswaffe 2, was a German ballistic missile developed by Wernher von Braun and first used in September 1944.
V-2 rocket propulsion
The V-2 rocket propulsion system was the world's first large liquid-propellant engine, burning liquid oxygen with diluted ethanol, producing 55,000 lb of thrust for about 60 seconds.
V-2 sounding rocket
The V-2 sounding rocket was a captured German V-2 missile fired by the United States from White Sands, New Mexico, for upper atmosphere research from 1946 to 1952.
V. Narayanan (engineer)
V. Narayanan is an Indian rocket propulsion specialist who became the 11th chairman of ISRO in January 2025, succeeding S. Somanath, and led development of India's cryogenic engines.
Valentina Tereshkova (Валентина Владимировна Терешкова)
Valentina Tereshkova (Валентина Терешкова), born 1937, is a Soviet cosmonaut who became the first woman in space, orbiting Earth 48 times aboard Vostok 6 in June 1963.
Valeri Polyakov
Valeri Polyakov, born Valeri Korshunov, was a Soviet physician-cosmonaut who flew the longest single spaceflight, 437 days aboard Mir from 1994 to 1995, testing human readiness for Mars.
Van Allen Probes
The Van Allen Probes, originally named Radiation Belt Storm Probes, were twin NASA spacecraft launched in 2012 to study Earth's Van Allen radiation belts for nearly seven years.
Vandenberg Space Force Base
Vandenberg Space Force Base, formerly Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a US Space Force installation on the Central California coast, the primary American spaceport for polar and sun-synchronous launches.
Vanguard (rocket)
Vanguard was a three-stage rocket developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory in 1955 to launch America's first satellite during the International Geophysical Year, orbiting three satellites in eleven attempts.
Vanguard 1
Vanguard 1 is a small American satellite launched in March 1958 from Cape Canaveral, and it remains the oldest artificial satellite still in Earth orbit.
Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is an electrodeless electric rocket engine that heats plasma with radio waves, developed by Ad Astra Rocket Company.
Vast (space company)
Vast is an American private aerospace company in Long Beach, California, founded in 2021 by Jed McCaleb, developing the Haven-1 space station and Haven-2, a proposed successor to the ISS.
Vector R
Vector R was a small launch vehicle by Arizona startup Vector Launch for 60 kg payloads to orbit, which flew suborbital tests in 2017 and folded in 2019.
Vega (rocket)
Vega, short for Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, was a European Space Agency small-lift launch vehicle that launched light satellites from Kourou, French Guiana, between 2012 and 2024.
Vega 1
Vega 1 was a Soviet space probe launched in December 1984 that dropped a lander and balloon at Venus in 1985, then flew past Halley's Comet in March 1986.
Vega 2
Vega 2 (Вега-2) was a Soviet spacecraft that delivered a lander and balloon to Venus in 1985, then flew past Halley's Comet in March 1986, guiding ESA's Giotto mission.
Vega C
Vega C is a European small-lift launch vehicle developed by ESA with Avio, flying from Kourou, French Guiana, since its maiden flight in July 2022.
Vehicle Assembly Building
The Vehicle Assembly Building, originally the Vertical Assembly Building, is a 525-foot-tall rocket hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, built in the 1960s to stack Saturn V Moon rockets.
Vektor
Vektor is the code name of a Soviet, later Russian, satellite bus for Taifun-1 radar calibration satellites, built by Yuzhnoye and launched on Kosmos-3M rockets from 1974 to 1994.
Vela (satellite)
The Vela satellites were twelve US satellites launched in pairs from 1963 to 1970 to detect nuclear explosions and verify compliance with the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty.
Vela incident
The Vela incident, or South Atlantic Flash, was a 1979 double flash of light detected by an American satellite and widely believed to be an undeclared nuclear test.