The three-stage-to-orbit launch system

Rocket launch

A rocket launch is the takeoff phase of the flight of a rocket. Launches for orbital spaceflights, or launches into interplanetary space, are usually from a fixed location on the ground, but may also be from a floating platform such as the San Marco platform, or the Sea Launch launch...

 is a commonly used rocket system to attain Earth orbit. The spacecraft uses three distinct stages

Multistage rocket

A multistage rocket is a rocket that usestwo or more stages, each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage; a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or...

 to provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity.

Examples of three stage to orbit systems

• Delta II
  Delta II
  Delta II was an American space launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II is part of the Delta rocket family and was in service from 1989 until November 1, 2011...
  
   (optional boosters plus optional third stage)
• Saturn V
  Saturn V
  The Saturn V was an American human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fueled launch vehicle, NASA launched 13 Saturn Vs from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida with no loss of crew or payload...
  
  
• Vanguard
• Ariane 4
  Ariane 4
  Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace. Ariane 4 was justly known as the ‘workhorse’ of the Ariane family. Since its first flight on 15 June 1988 until the last, on 15 February 2003, it...
  
   (optional boosters)
• Ariane 2
  Ariane 2
  Ariane 2 was a European expendable carrier rocket, which was used for six launches between 1986 and 1989. It was a member of the Ariane family of rockets, and was produced by Aérospatiale in France....
  
  
• Ariane 1
  Ariane 1
  Ariane 1 is the first version of the Ariane launcher family. Ariane 1 was designed primarily to put two telecommunications satellites at a time into orbit, thus reducing costs. As the size of the satellites grew Ariane 1 gave way to the more powerful Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 launchers.- Vehicle...
  
   (four stages)
• GSLV (three stages and boosters)
• PSLV (four stages)
• Proton (optional fourth stage)
• Long March 5 (optional boosters and optional third stage)
• Long March 1
  Long March 1
  Long March 1 is 1st member of China's Long March 1 .The study of Long March 1 began in 1965. Long March 1's first flight put China's first satellite Dong Fang Hong 1 to space on April 24, 1970.* Stages: 3...
  
  , Long March 1D
  Long March 1D
  Long March 1D is the improved version of Long March 1 rocket stage for Chinese space agency craft, mainly for the thrustor of stage 1, from 1020 kilonewtons to 1101.2 kilonewtons, also improved the performance for stage 2 and stage 3. The improved Long March 1D can launch variant of LEO satellite;...
  
  
• Zenit-3SL
  Zenit-3SL
  The Zenit-3SL is an expendable carrier rocket operated by Sea Launch. First flown in 1999, it has been launched 30 times, with two failures and one partial failure. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets, and is built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. RKK Energia produces the Block DM-SL upper...
  
  

Examples of two stages with boosters

Other designs (in fact, most modern medium- to heavy-lift designs) do not have all three stages inline on the main stack, instead having strap-on boosters for the "stage-0" with two core stages. In these designs, the boosters and first stage fire simultaneously instead of consecutively, providing extra initial thrust to lift the full launcher weight and overcome gravity losses and atmospheric drag. The boosters are jettisoned a few minutes into flight to reduce weight.

• US Space Shuttle
  Space Shuttle
  The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
  
   — SRB first stage ; External Tank + SSME second stage ; OMS on internal tanks third stage ;
• Ariane 5
  Ariane 5
  Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...
  
  
• Delta III
• Delta IV-Medium+ and -Heavy
• H-IIA
  H-IIA
  H-IIA is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency . The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch an interplanetary...
  
  , H-IIB
  H-IIB
  H-IIB is an expendable launch system used to launch H-II Transfer Vehicles towards the International Space Station. H-IIB rockets are liquid-fuelled with solid-fuel strap-on boosters and are launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan...
  
  
• Soyuz
  Soyuz (rocket)
  The Soyuz was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara, Russia. It was used to launch Soyuz spacecraft as part of the Soyuz programme, initially on unmanned test flights, followed by the first 19 manned launches of the...
  
  
• Titan IV
  Titan IV
  The Titan IV family of space boosters were used by the U.S. Air Force. They were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. At the time of its introduction, the Titan IV was the "largest unmanned space booster used by the Air Force."The...
  
  
• Long March 2E
  Long March 2E
  The Long March 2E, also known as the Chang Zheng 2E, CZ-2E and LM-2E, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Designed to launch commercial communications satellites, the Long March 2E was retired in favour of the Long March 3B, after two launch failures. Launched from complex 2 at the Xichang...
  
  , Long March 2F
  Long March 2F
  The Long March 2F , also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian, is a Chinese manned orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March rocket family. Designed to launch manned Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a man-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based...
  
  , Long March 3B
  Long March 3B
  The Long March 3B , also known as the Chang Zheng 3B, CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre...