SpaceX launches more Starlink satellites
More bunny action. SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 23 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its thirteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
Increasingly, SpaceX is treating its rockets and launchpads like the airlines treat their airplanes: They only have value if they are flying, and SpaceX is trying to keep both rockets and launchpads flying at all times.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
55 SpaceX
23 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the world combined in successful launches, 62 to 36, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including other American companies, 55 to 43.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
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More bunny action. SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 23 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its thirteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
Increasingly, SpaceX is treating its rockets and launchpads like the airlines treat their airplanes: They only have value if they are flying, and SpaceX is trying to keep both rockets and launchpads flying at all times.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
55 SpaceX
23 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the world combined in successful launches, 62 to 36, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including other American companies, 55 to 43.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
Would it be possible to see the per month totals for SpaceX so we can get a sense of launch cadence? This list is reminding me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfes.
Terry: All you really have to do is divide the number of launches by the month to get a rough figure. At this moment this year SpaceX is exceeding 10 launches per month.
@Terry you can try NextSpaceFlight.com
SpaceX link:
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/agency/upcoming/1/
11 flights in May so far, 3 more scheduled. On track to 140+ at this pace.
End of 5 months, and 54 flights (3 more to go, so assume 57 in 5 months is over 11/month)
Geoffc, thanks for that link.
Bob, doing that math is easy but it shows a back looking average. I’m interested in seeing how the SpaceX current and previous month launch totals are doing compared to the “12 per month” target. Seeing the “real time” cadence will help us better estimate the year-end totals for SpaceX.
I have been using the “List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches” on Wikipedia, but of course that does not include any Starship launches.
Terry: One thing you can do is use BtB. Do a search of the words “launch” “race” “leaders”. That should get you every one of my launch posts. You can then quickly scan down them and get an idea of the monthly numbers.