Cargo spacecraft

Cargo spacecraft are robotic spacecraft that are designed to carry cargo, possibly to support space stations' operation by transporting food, propellant and other supplies. This is different from a space probe, whose missions are to conduct scientific investigations.

Automated cargo spacecraft have been used since 1978 and have serviced Salyut 6, Salyut 7, Mir, the International Space Station and Tiangong space station.

Spacecraft

Current spacecraft

* the Russian Progress spacecraft—developed by Russian Federal Space Agency
* the American Dragon 2 spacecraft—developed under contract from NASA by SpaceX, a private spaceflight company, the only reusable cargo spacecraft
* the American Cygnus spacecraft—developed under contract from NASA by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, a private spaceflight company
* the Chinese Tianzhou spacecraft—developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Defunct or retired projects

*the Soviet optionally-crewed TKS spacecraft
* the European Automated Transfer Vehicle—developed by the European Space Agency. The last vehicle, ''Georges Lemaître'' ATV, completed its mission in February, 2015.
* the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle—developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
* the American SpaceX Dragon—developed under contract from NASA by SpaceX, a private spaceflight company was retired after CRS-20 that launched March 2020.

Spacecraft in development

* The SpaceX Starship is planned to be a spacecraft launched as the second stage of a reusable launch vehicle. The concept is under development by SpaceX, as a private spaceflight project. It is being designed to be a long-duration cargo- and passenger-carrying spacecraft. While it will be tested on its own initially, it will be used on orbital launches with an additional booster stage, the Super Heavy, where Starship would serve as the second stage on a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. The combination of spacecraft and booster is called Starship as well.
* In January 2016, NASA announced that Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser had been awarded one of the contracts under the second round of the agency's Commercial Resupply Services contracts. NASA committed to purchasing a minimum of six resupply missions to the ISS.
* The Earth Return Orbiter has been called the first "interplanetary cargo ship" due to its capacity as sample return mission from Mars.
* Argo reusable cargo spacecraft is the first spacecraft being developed in Russia by a private company, with first flight expected in 2024.

Canceled projects

* The American private-sector Kistler K-1 from Rocketplane Kistler saw its contract with NASA terminated in October 2007 when the company failed to meet objectives. The contract was re-awarded to Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Example Cargo

* Experimentation Equipment
** Phase Change Heat Exchanger
*** Heat exchangers are devices used to maintain critical temperatures inside spacecraft. Heat exchangers may remedy the problem of not being able to regulate temperature in space because it has no atmosphere. The phase change heat exchanger has two modes of operation. In the first mode, which uses a freeze cycle, heat exchange fluid is given to the upper flow passageway, which freezes the phase change material at the top. The liquid phase change material at the top is then displaced by the newly-formed phase change material falling to the bottom. In the second mode, which uses a melt cycle, heat exchange fluid is given to the lower passageway to melt the phase change material at the bottom, causing the newly-formed liquid phase change material to be displaced towards the top.
** Nanotube Solar Cell
*** A nanotube solar cell is a solar cell designed by the aerospace company Nanoracks that absorbs sunlight more efficiently than traditional solar cell

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