2026-01-30
US Shuttles
Test Articles
| Designation | Name | ...also known as | Location | Notes |
| Inspiration | Columbia Memorial Space Center | Made by Rockwell. First mockup, made of wood, plastic and paper. More on this in Noteworthy Replicas... | ||
| OV-095 | Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) mockup | Houston | Just a cockpit.... I think. | |
| STA-096 | ECLSS Structural Test Article | Not much on this... | ||
| STA-097 | Vibro Acoustic Structural Test Article | Not much on this... | ||
| Space Shuttle Orbiter simulator | OV-098, Pathfinder | U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Alabama | Used as a structural stand-in for the shuttle when designing craning and transporting so more important test articles were not damaged. Has been renovated several times and now is a much closer replica. | |
| MPTA | Main Propulsion Test Article | MPTA-098 | U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Alabama | Used for testing the main engine systems, also used for early design work on the (abandoned) Shuttle-C program. |
| STA-099 |
Challenger |
Lost during STS-51-L | Test article that ended up a real orbiter. | |
| OV-101 |
Enterprise |
Intrepid Museum | Intended real orbiter that ended up being a test article. |
Space Rated Orbiters
| Designation | Name | Location | Notes |
| OV-099 | Challenger | Lost during STS-51-L | Original designation STA-099. |
| OV-102 | Columbia | Lost during STS-107 | First production shuttle; structurally much the same as Challenger and Enterprise. |
| OV-103 | Discovery | Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center | First refined shuttle, made with lessons learnt from the first three. 3000kg lighter, which translates to more cargo capacity. |
| OV-104 | Atlantis | Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex | Last shuttle to be launched. |
| OV-105 | Endevour | Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center | Built mostly from spare parts from Discovery and Atlantis after the loss of Challenger. |
Noteworthy Replicas
| Name | Last Location | Notes |
| Adventure | Space Center Houston | Forward fuselage only. No longer on display, probably because they got Explorer/Independence. LEGO made a shuttle that they named Adventure, and this, while cool, dilutes search results. No idea where it is now. |
| America | Six Flags Great America | Full scale but no right wing as it was a ride prop. Fiberglass but tiled. No idea where it is now. |
| Independence | Space Center Houston | Probably the best replica, especially since where possible real parts are used. Was known as Explorer when first made for Kennedy Space Center. When they ended up with Atlantis it was moved to Space Center Houston. They then made it more accessible and realistic, and it now is on display mated to NASA 905, one of the 747 transporters. |
| Inspiration (California) | Columbia Memorial Space Center | Kinda the first real shuttle, this is the original mockup that has been displayed as Inspiration and will have a new home, hopefully, in 2026. It was used for actual design work, including electrics and hydraulics and, going by photos, was complete aside from the left wing, but now it seems the bay doors and the vertical stabiliser is missing. |
| Inspiration (Florida) | Shuttle Landing Facility | I'm a bit confused about this one. Might be NASA made? Seems 100% to scale but not used for development? |
| Resolution! | Columbia Memorial Space Center | Weird this. It's just the forward fuselage, mostly made as a large scale flight deck simulator... by... an engineering student who tried to later gift it to NASA...?!?! Supposedly rotting away. |
Russian Shuttles
| Designation | Name | Location | Notes |
| 1.01 | Buran | Lost during storage in 2002 | Only one to go to space. Unmanned during this mission. |
| 1.02 | 2K, Byrya, Ptichka | MZK building Baikonur | 95% complete. No official name. Byrya would have been likely. |
| 2.01 | 3K |
UMMC Museum Complex |
30-50% complete. Externally looks OK. Insides are probably just framework. |
| 2.02 | 4K | Some parts at Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy | 10-20% complete. |
| 2.03 | 5K | Dismantled | Nothing of note seems to remain. |
Last Edited: 26 Jan 26
