Space Shuttle Orbiter

Space Shuttle orbiters are a type of spaceplane component for partially and fully reusable orbital spacecraft systems that have been apart of the discontinued U.S. Space Shuttle program, and still active, Soviet Buran orbiter program, and the Chinese orbiter program. There have been nineteen total first generation space shuttle orbiters since 1979.

U.S. Space Shuttle program
President Reagan approved of the space shuttle program in 1970 in addition to several additions to the U.S. space effort on the Moon, in orbit, and space probes to other celestial bodies in the Solar System.

U.S. Air Force orbiters
U.S. Air Force orbiters differed from NASA/JPL orbiters in that the Air Force orbiters have iconography from their organization as well as white fuel tanks and filament wound case solid rocket boosters.


 * 1) America
 * 2) Independence
 * 3) Liberty

NASA/JPL orbiters

 * 1) Constitution
 * 2) Challenger
 * 3) Columbia
 * 4) Discovery
 * 5) Atlantis
 * 6) Endeavour
 * 7) Resolution

Soviet Space Shuttle program

 * 1) Buran "snowstorm/blizzard"
 * 2) Ptichka "little bird"
 * 3) Burya "tempest"
 * 4) Vodovorot "maelstrom"
 * 5) Zima "winter"

Chinese Space Shuttle program

 * 1) Chun Tian "spring"
 * 2) Xia Tian "summer"
 * 3) Qui Tian "autumn"
 * 4) Dong Tian "winter"