At a scorching average launch tempo of every four days in 2023, Elon Musk's SpaceX achieved 96 successful orbital rocket launches, smashing the previous annual record.
This year, SpaceX surpassed its previous year record of 61 orbital missions in 2022 with 91 launches using its Falcon 9 rocket and an additional five with the Falcon Heavy. To put things in perspective, SpaceX has launched Falcon 9 more times this year than it did in the ten years following the rocket's launch.
This year, SpaceX continued to push the envelope on rocket reuse as it successfully landed its 250th orbital rocket booster and launched and landed a single rocket 19 times.
With just under three hours between orbital launches this week, SpaceX also broke the corporate record for the quickest time between Florida missions since NASA's Gemini 11 mission in 1966.
Furthermore, SpaceX's two Starship test missions, which did not carry commercial payloads intended for space, are not included in the company's launch total for the year.
It was just a few years ago, according to Jon Edwards, vice president of SpaceX's Falcon launch vehicles, that Musk proposed "a goal of 100 launches as a thought experiment."
“Here we are. I’m so incredibly proud to work with the best team on earth, and so excited to see what we achieve next year,” Edwards wrote.
As the firm continues to deploy satellites for the Starlink system, which accounts for a significant amount of its $180 billion valuation, SpaceX officials have stated that the company expects to fly as many as 144 Falcon missions in 2024.
(Source:www.republicworld.com)
This year, SpaceX surpassed its previous year record of 61 orbital missions in 2022 with 91 launches using its Falcon 9 rocket and an additional five with the Falcon Heavy. To put things in perspective, SpaceX has launched Falcon 9 more times this year than it did in the ten years following the rocket's launch.
This year, SpaceX continued to push the envelope on rocket reuse as it successfully landed its 250th orbital rocket booster and launched and landed a single rocket 19 times.
With just under three hours between orbital launches this week, SpaceX also broke the corporate record for the quickest time between Florida missions since NASA's Gemini 11 mission in 1966.
Furthermore, SpaceX's two Starship test missions, which did not carry commercial payloads intended for space, are not included in the company's launch total for the year.
It was just a few years ago, according to Jon Edwards, vice president of SpaceX's Falcon launch vehicles, that Musk proposed "a goal of 100 launches as a thought experiment."
“Here we are. I’m so incredibly proud to work with the best team on earth, and so excited to see what we achieve next year,” Edwards wrote.
As the firm continues to deploy satellites for the Starlink system, which accounts for a significant amount of its $180 billion valuation, SpaceX officials have stated that the company expects to fly as many as 144 Falcon missions in 2024.
(Source:www.republicworld.com)
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