Astronomy Cast Ep. 799: Heavy Lift Rockets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDgA3eiUANs

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live June 22, 2026.

The Saturn 5 was a monster, capable of sending humans and a lander to the Moon and bringing them back again. But the number of heavy lift rockets since then has gotten pretty sparse. Now, with tens if not hundreds of thousands of satellites in the works, giant new space telescopes and multi-ton lunar landers in development there are heavy lift solutions to match. So let's talk about them! From yesterday's Saturn V to today's Ariane VI, rockets capable of launching large telescopes or small space stations in a single go are modern marvels. They are also wildly dangerous, and not exactly compatible. Let's look at today's fleet of rockets and just what they're accomplishing.

This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast

In this episode, we'd like to thank: Andrew Poelstra, Burry Gowen, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Eric Lee, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Jeanette Wink, Joe McTee, Michael Purcell, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler

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