space tug

A space tug is a type of spacecraft used to transfer spaceborne cargo from one orbit to another orbit with different energy characteristics. The term can include expendable upper stages or spacecraft that are not necessarily a part of their launch vehicle. However, it can also refer to a spacecraft that transports payload already in space to another location in outer space, such as in the Space Transportation System concept. An example would be moving a spacecraft from a low Earth orbit (LEO) to a higher-energy orbit like a geostationary transfer orbit, a lunar transfer, or an escape trajectory.

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Wikimedia, Wikidata
upper stage
rocket stage, spacecraft, 
ESC-A H14.4, Blue Ring, Saman-1, Vigoride, Transfer Orbit Stage, spacecraft, Shuttle-Centaur, satellite dispenser, Mission Extension Vehicle, MAGE, KVRB, Ikar, Fregat, ESC-D H14.7, Agena D, EPS-V L10, EPS L9.7, Ekran, Dong Fang Hong 2, Centaur, Burner 2, Burner 2A, Briz, Blok D, Blok-DM-SL, Blok-DM-SLB, Blok-DM, Blok DM-2M, 

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Location: KML, Cluster Map, Maps,

• 

  Agena D ⓘ
  American rocket upper stage

• 

  Altair ⓘ
  family of American solid-propellant upper stages

• 

  Astris ⓘ
  European upper stage

• 

  Blok D ⓘ
  upper stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems

• 

  Blok DM-03 ⓘ
  variant of the Blok D upper stage

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  Blok DM-2 ⓘ
  variant of the Blok D upper stage

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  Blok DM-2M ⓘ
  variant of the Blok D upper stage

• 

  Blok-DM ⓘ
  Russian upper stage and space tug

• 

  Blok-DM-SL ⓘ
  Russian upper stage and space tug

• 

  Blok-DM-SLB ⓘ
  Russian upper stage and space tug

• 

  Blue Ring ⓘ
  space tug and satellite platform

• 

  Briz ⓘ
  family of Russian rocket upper stages

• 

  Burner 2 ⓘ
  American upper rocket stage

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  Burner 2A ⓘ
  American upper rocket stage

• 

  Centaur ⓘ
  family of rocket stages which can be used as a space tug

• 

  Delta Cryogenic Second Stage ⓘ
  rocket stage used in Delta rockets

• 

  EPS L9.7 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage used on Ariane 5

• 

  EPS-V L10 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage used on Ariane 5

• 

  ESC-A H14.4 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage used on Ariane 5

• 

  ESC-D H14.7 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage used on Ariane 5

• 

  Fregat ⓘ
  family of Russian rocket upper stages

• 

  H10 ⓘ
  family of upper rocket stages built by Aérospatiale

• 

  H10 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage built by Aérospatiale

• 

  H10 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage built by Aérospatiale

• 

  H10-3 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage built by Aérospatiale

• 

  H8 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage built by Aérospatiale

• 

  Ikar ⓘ
  used as the upper stage for Soyuz-Ikar

• 

  MAGE ⓘ
  European rocket upper stage

• 

  Mission Extension Vehicle ⓘ
  type of space tug

• 

  Saman-1 ⓘ
  Iranian space tug

• 

  satellite dispenser ⓘ
  spacecraft designed to release smaller payloads into their designated orbit

• 

  Shuttle-Centaur ⓘ
  proposed Space Shuttle upper stage

• 

  Transfer Orbit Stage ⓘ
  single-stage solid-fueled booster rocket

• 

  Transtage ⓘ
  American upper rocket stage used on Titan III

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  ULPM H30 ⓘ
  upper rocket stage used by Ariane 6

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  Vigoride ⓘ
  space tug by Momentus Space

• 

  Volga ⓘ
  rocket upper stage designed in Russia

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  Yuanzheng ⓘ
  series of Chinese launch vehicle upper stages

• 

  Inertial Upper Stage ⓘ
  two-stage solid-fueled booster rocket developed by the U.S. Air Force

• 

  KVRB ⓘ
  proposed Proton cryogenic upper stage

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  Payload Assist Module ⓘ
  single-stage solid-fueled booster stage

• 

  STAR ⓘ
  family of American rocket stages developed by Thiokol

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Frameless

Managed by Marshall Space Flight Center, the Space Tug was intended to be a reusable multipurpose space vehicle designed to transport payloads to different orbital inclinations.

Tsyklon-3 S5M upper stage

Comparison of Block D variants

Comparison of Block D variants

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
class	rocket		Agena D	RM-81 Agena, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Altair	solid-propellant rocket, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Astris	liquid-propellant rocket, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blok D	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blok DM-03	Blok D,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blok DM-2	Blok D,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blok DM-2M	Blok D,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blok-DM	Blok D, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blok-DM-SL	Blok D,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blok-DM-SLB	Blok D,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Blue Ring	space tug, spacecraft bus,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Briz	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Burner 2	solid-propellant rocket, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Burner 2A	solid-propellant rocket, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Centaur	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Delta Cryogenic Second Stage	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		EPS L9.7	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		EPS-V L10	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		ESC-A H14.4	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		ESC-D H14.7	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Fregat	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		H10	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		H10	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		H10	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		H10-3	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		H8	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Ikar	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		MAGE	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Mission Extension Vehicle	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Saman-1	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		satellite dispenser	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Shuttle-Centaur	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Transfer Orbit Stage	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Transtage	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		ULPM H30	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Vigoride	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Volga	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket		Yuanzheng	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket	1982	Inertial Upper Stage	solid-propellant rocket, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket	1990	KVRB	space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket engine		Payload Assist Module	apogee kick motor, space tug,	Wikidata
class	rocket engine		STAR	apogee kick motor, solid-propellant rocket, space tug,	Wikidata
commons	image		Managed by Marshall Space Flight Center, the Space Tug was intended to be a reusable multipurpose space vehicle designed to transport payloads to different orbital inclinations.		Commons
commons	image		Tsyklon-3 S5M upper stage		Commons
commons	image		Comparison of Block D variants		Commons
commons	image		Comparison of Block D variants		Commons