Parker Solar Probe
The fastest human-made object ever: NASA’s Sun-skimming probe hit 692,000 km/h in December 2024, flying just 6.1 million km above the solar surface.
USA
Boeing X-37B
The U.S. Space Force’s reusable robotic mini-shuttle has flown seven secretive missions since 2010, one lasting 908 days before an autonomous runway landing.
Voyager 1
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is the farthest human-made object — more than 24 billion km away and still calling home from interstellar space.
Apollo Command and Service Module
The three-man spacecraft that carried every Apollo crew to the Moon, returning at a record 39,897 km/h — still the fastest humans have ever traveled.
Orion
NASA’s deep-space capsule for Artemis Moon missions carries four astronauts, and on Artemis I in 2022 flew 432,210 km from Earth — a crew-spacecraft record.
Crew Dragon
SpaceX’s Dragon 2 capsule ended America’s nine-year crew-launch gap in 2020 and now flies four astronauts at a time to the ISS — reusable and fully autonomous.
Space Shuttle
NASA’s partially reusable space plane flew 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, hauling 27,500 kg to orbit and carrying more than 350 astronauts.
New Glenn
Blue Origin’s 98 m partially reusable heavy rocket reached orbit on its January 2025 debut and can carry 45,000 kg to low Earth orbit.
Space Launch System (SLS)
NASA’s Moon rocket for Artemis: 98 m tall, 39,100 kN at liftoff — more thrust than Saturn V — and 95,000 kg to low Earth orbit.
Saturn V
NASA’s 110.6 m Moon rocket launched every Apollo lunar mission and Skylab, sending 140,000 kg to orbit and never losing a crew or payload in 13 flights.