Famous Rockets on the Launch Pad and in Flight

One photo for each rocket that changed spaceflight, from the captured V-2 that opened Cape Canaveral in 1950 to the boosters that now fly back to land. Every frame shows the rocket itself, on the pad, climbing away from it or coming home, and every caption names the vehicle, the mission and the date so the picture can be placed exactly. The test for a place here is simple: the rocket opened a new kind of mission, carried a landmark payload or changed what a launch costs. That keeps out minor variants and one-off test vehicles. The order runs roughly by first flight, from the Space Race to the newest heavy lifters. A few famous names, such as the Soviet Energia, are missing only because no clear photo of the rocket itself could be found.