From April 12, 1981 to July 21, 2011 – during this era, humanity used real spacecraft to fly into space. Only the Space Shuttle could take off, carry out a mission in orbit, land like an airplane and prepare for the next mission. It was able to carry a payload of 2-27 tons (depending on its height) into orbit with a crew of eight. He had the lion’s share in the construction and operation of the International Space Station.
It was extremely expensive, and its logistics spread throughout the United States. This eventually became fatal for him, because no congressman wanted to make the space shuttle program more efficient at the expense of the state he represented. The modernization programs were beyond the means of the American budget for such an already too expensive operating budget. The space shuttle program counted on 50 launches per year. In the end, the average frequency of launches was only 4.5 per year. Each space shuttle had a design life of 150 flights and 10 years. However, there was not such a demand for frequent flights, as the development of the International Space Station was delayed. In addition, the Army did not use the space shuttles as often as planned. Paradoxically, the whole program did not end because of the obsolescence of the technical solution, but because of an old political assignment.