NASA is a government agency designed for non-military space exploration. NASA started going to space in the 1960's using disposable rockets that got bigger and bigger. Then we invested in space shuttles that were reusable. Six shuttles performed 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The fleet is now retired. What has happened since and what direction are we taking to get ourselves (people, supplies to the ISS, and non-military orbiting satellites) into space Please concentrate on the USA's plans only. Please include current plans as well as plans for the future.
What a pity! We were sending astronauts to the ISS on Russian rockets (at $75 million a seat in 2017). The deal was scheduled to run through 2017 but delays forced the US to extend the deal to November 2019 until a Plan B is set into motion. Since 2011, the US has not launched an astronaut from US soil .... until 5/30/2020 !!! SpaceX successfully launched two astronauts aboard the Dragon spacecraft. We are finally putting people in space from home!
NASA has sub-contracted unmanned missions to the private sector. A few companies are currently leading the charge to get manned missions back on American soil: They are SpaceX, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Blue Origin, and VirginGalactic, .
SpaceX has already launched (and returned) rockets to space, successfully reaching the ISS in 2012. Their Falcon 9 rocket has delivered cargo to the ISS on their Dragon spacecraft several times. SpaceX eventually plans to launch astronauts on this craft or their Starship rocket. So far, SpaceX has not sent any manned crews to space but that all changed in 2020. You had better cover the successful 2/6/18 launch of the (unmanned) Falcon Heavy to Mars. Elon Musk is the founder of SpaceX as well as the Tesla car.
US based Boeing is also in the space flight business. Their Starliner space taxi spacecraft has yet to make an impact with several delays in their program. Boeing planned to launch a manned mission to the ISS in mid-2019 but that has is plagued with delays.
In October 2014, an unmanned rocket designed to carry supplies to the ISS blow up just after launch. This rocket was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (now Orbital ATK). Not only did this cost over $200 million, it gave us another black eye as we struggle to find a way to compete. The good news for Orbital ATK is that they successfully launched a supply craft to the ISS in October 2016 so maybe they are moving in the right direction.
Flamboyant, Richard Branson is the face of British company Virgin Galactic. This company has already taken orders to fly anyone (with $250,000 to spare) to space. Unfortunately, in late October 2014, one of their test rockets failed, killing one person. Still thinking of signing up?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos founded a private rocket company called Blue Origin. However, the plan is for private tourism trips to space (much like Virgin Galactic). So if you have lots of money and guts to match, sign up for a chance to ride a rocket to space.
There are several other private companies looking to lead the way so I'll leave it to you to report on them.
The Near Future
NASA is not out of the rocket business entirely. Working with the European Space Agency and Lockheed Martin, their ambitious Artemis program is designed to get back to the moon and then on to Mars. Look for the first return to the moon somewhere in 2024. The rocket taking astronauts to the moon is called the "Space Launch System" or SLS for short. It will carry astronauts in a capsule called Orion. All this is currently in the testing phases.