Arianespace successfully launches four commercial communications satellites
Capitalism in space: Using a Russian-built Soyuz rocket Arianespace today successfully placed four O3b communications in orbit.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
4 China
4 Europe (Arianespace)
3 SpaceX
3 Russia
The U.S. now leads China and Europe 6 to 4 in the national rankings.
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Capitalism in space: Using a Russian-built Soyuz rocket Arianespace today successfully placed four O3b communications in orbit.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
4 China
4 Europe (Arianespace)
3 SpaceX
3 Russia
The U.S. now leads China and Europe 6 to 4 in the national rankings.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
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I am a bit concerned that there have been so few launches in the first quarter of the year. In addition to the 14 launches listed, I believe that there are two each for ULA and India, and one each for Rocket Lab and Japan, giving a total, so far, of 20. At this rate, we will not meet last year’s launch total of 111, so I hope things start to pick up soon.
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/the-2018-global-launch-race-plus-predictions-for-2019/
“I therefore expect the launch total for 2019 to be much higher, possibly as much as 120 launches.”
I count 50 scheduled launches through August, which is a bit better, at 10 launches per month, but that rate may only take us to the equivalent of last year’s total.
https://watchrockets.com/
Edward: Your count is correct, 20 launches so far this year.
The numbers so far is less than last year, partly because the launches last year were clearing out backlog for both SpaceX and China. They don’t have as many launches now on their manifest. However, this will be compensated for but the arrival of the smallsat rockets, of which Rocket Lab is one.