Even before the launch of Sputnik 1, there were various types of launch vehicle designs. The launch vehicle designs described below are either canceled or never left the drawing board.
| Name | Designer | Proposed | Canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Von Braun Ferry Rocket | Wernher von Braun | 1950s | |
| North American X-15B | USAF and NACA | 1958 | |
| Mercury-Jupiter | NASA | 1959 | |
| Saturn C-2 | 1959 | 1962 | |
| Saturn C-3 | |||
| Saturn C-4 | |||
| Nova | |||
| BAC Mustard | BAC | 1960s | 1967 |
| NEXUS | General Dynamics | ||
| Saturn C-5N | NASA | 1972 | |
| Saturn INT-20 | |||
| UR-700 | Vladimir Chelomei | ||
| Saenger (spacecraft) | Eugen Sänger, Junkers, MBB, DLR | 1995 | |
| Saturn C-8 | NASA | 1962 | 1962 |
| Sea Dragon | Robert Truax | ||
| Douglas SASSTO | Philip Bono | 1967 | |
| Martin Marietta Spacemaster | Martin Marietta | ||
| Saturn V-A | NASA | 1968 | |
| Saturn V-C | |||
| Saturn V-Centaur | |||
| Saturn V-D | |||
| Saturn INT-21 | 1970s | ||
| Chrysler SERV | Chrysler | 1971 | |
| Saturn-Shuttle | NASA | 1972 | |
| Hermes | CNES and ESA | 1975 | 1992 |
| Rockwell X-30 | Rockwell International | 1980 | 1993 |
| British Aerospace HOTOL | British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce | 1982 | 1989 |
| Trans Atmospheric Vehicle | Lockheed Martin | ~1985 | |
| Shuttle-C | NASA | 1984 | 1995 |
| VentureStar | Lockheed Martin | 1990s | 2001 |
| National Launch System | NASA | 1991 | 1992 |
| Black Horse | Mitchell Burnside Clapp | 1993 | 1996 |
| Kankoh-maru | Japanese Rocket Society | ||
| K-1 | Rocketplane Kistler | 1994 | 2007 |
| Roton | Rotary Rocket | 1996 | 2001 |
| Magnum | NASA | 2004 |
| Name | Designer | Proposed | Canceled | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ares IV | NASA | 2000s | 2010 | |
| Ares V Lite | ||||
| Jupiter | DIRECT | 2010 | ||
| Falcon 1e | SpaceX | 2011 | ||
| Haas | ARCAspace | |||
| Orbital Space Plane Program | NASA | 2002 | 2004 | |
| Falcon 5 | SpaceX | 2003 | 2005 | |
| Galaxy Express | Galaxy Express Corporation | 2009 | ||
| Ares I | NASA | 2005 | 2010 | |
| Ares V | ||||
| Rocketplane XP | Rocketplane Kistler | 2011 | ||
| Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle | NASA | 2009 | 2010 | |
| Liberty | ATK and Astrium | 2011 | 2012 | |
| Falcon 9 Air | SpaceX | |||
| Mars Colonial Transporter | 2012 | 2016 | ||
| Interplanetary Transport System | 2016 | 2017 | ||
| Big Falcon Rocket | 2017 | 2018 | ||
| OmegA | Northrop Grumman | 2016 | 2020 |