SpaceX sets record for most rocket launches in a year
SpaceX, an aerospace company by Elon Musk, has achieved a new milestone by completing the most rocket launches in a single year. The company launched 129 Falcon 9 rockets, two Falcon Heavy missions, and three Starship flights in 2024. This brings the total to 134 missions, breaking the previous record of 98 launches set by SpaceX in 2023.
Launch locations and upcoming missions
Most of SpaceX's rocket launches were conducted at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. A few missions were also launched from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. All three Starship flights were launched from SpaceX's own Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The company plans to conduct three more Falcon 9 missions before year-end, taking the total number of launches for 2024 to an impressive 137.
Diverse range of launches in 2024
The Falcon rocket flights mostly focused on launching satellites for Starlink, SpaceX's internet-from-space service. But, the company also completed over 20 launches for different commercial clients and nearly 18 missions under government contracts. This is an increase from last year's 12 and 14, respectively. Plus, a number of rideshare missions were conducted to cater to multiple customers at once, including one with over 100 payloads.
Crewed missions and booster recovery in 2024
Along with satellite deployments, SpaceX also launched Crew-8 and Crew-9 to the ISS, and a crew for the privately funded Axiom-3 mission. Additionally, the company used a Falcon 9 rocket for the privately funded Polaris Dawn mission, sending astronauts farther from Earth than any other mission since the Apollo era. It was also the first commercial spacewalk. After deploying their payloads/astronauts into orbit, SpaceX successfully returned most of the first-stage Falcon 9 boosters home.
Future plans and Starship testing
Despite setting a new launch record, SpaceX fell a little short of its original forecast for 2024 owing to weather-related and technical delays. Looking ahead, the company plans to serve more customers in 2025 and ramp up testing of its powerful Starship rocket with up to 25 launches planned over the next year. So far, this rocket has flown only six times since its inaugural flight in April 2023.
