SpaceX has had its busiest yr but for rocket launches.
The spaceflight firm led by Elon Musk has thus far carried out 129 Falcon 9 launches, two Falcon Heavy launches, and three Starship launches. Three extra Falcon 9 missions are deliberate earlier than the tip of the yr, making for a grand complete of 137 launches for 2024 — far more than the 98 launches achieved in 2023.
Most of the rockets launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, whereas some missions began from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. All three of the Starship flights launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
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The Falcon rocket flights principally concerned deployments of satellites for Starlink, SpaceX’s internet-from-space service. But there have been additionally greater than 20 launches for a spread of economic prospects, up from 12 in 2023. Launches involving authorities contracts, in the meantime, ticked as much as round 18 for the yr.
It additionally carried out a number of rideshare missions, which hold prices down by serving a number of prospects without delay. One of those missions concerned greater than 100 payloads.
It wasn’t simply satellites that SpaceX was deploying, because it additionally despatched Crew-8 and Crew-9 to the area station, together with crew connected to the privately funded Axiom-3 mission. Additionally, SpaceX used a Falcon 9 to launch the privately funded Polaris Dawn mission, which despatched a crew to the furthest level from Earth because the Apollo missions 5 a long time and likewise concerned the primary business spacewalk.
As normal, SpaceX introduced most of its first-stage Falcon 9 boosters house shortly after they’d deployed their payloads — or astronauts — to orbit. Only one Falcon 9 booster touchdown led to failure this yr. It occurred in August when the automobile caught fireplace through the landing, earlier than toppling over.
SpaceX has really fallen barely in need of its authentic launch forecast for 2024 on account of delays attributable to a variety of climate and technical points.
Looking forward, 2025 is about to be even busier, with SpaceX aiming to serve extra prospects than ever. It’s additionally aiming to ramp up testing of its mighty Starship rocket, with as many as 25 launches deliberate to happen over the following 12 months. To date, the rocket has solely flown six instances, with the primary one launching in April 2023. SpaceX already has permission for the Starship’s seventh check flight, which some stories counsel might happen in early January.
Creating a document 17 million kilos of thrust because it leaves the bottom, a Starship launch would mark a spectacular starting to SpaceX’s 2025 marketing campaign.
