SpaceX launches 29 more Starlink satellites
The beat goes on! SpaceX today continued its torrid launch pace, launching another 29 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its 16th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
164 SpaceX (a new record)
81 China
15 Rocket Lab
15 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 164 to 133.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The beat goes on! SpaceX today continued its torrid launch pace, launching another 29 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its 16th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
164 SpaceX (a new record)
81 China
15 Rocket Lab
15 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 164 to 133.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News


That’s launch number nine for the month and it’s only the 11th of Dec. nextspaceflight.com now shows nine more F9s still scheduled during the rest of Dec. including a Starlink mission set for the 18th that just popped up on the list today. There would appear to be potential for an additional two or three such missions in addition to those already showing.
Finishing the year with a monthly total of 20 or more would be a heckuva statement of intent anent 2026. I figured SpaceX would go for 200 Falcons plus an unknown number of Starships next year, but 20 Falcons per month is an annualized rate of 240! Day-um as they say down south.
So frequent as to be invisible.
Delta II flights were what I thought “frequent” looked like. They were lower cost, but tiny things…but they launched frequently enough to actually annoy me.
“Is this all that commercial spaceflight allows?”
I hated that rocket.
Dick Eagleson: “Day-um as they say down south.” That would be down South, sir.
Jeff Wright: “So frequent as to be invisible.” Nicely done,
Either Elon was in a foul mood when he last visited the Cape, or Kiko’s team has decided to take a page from China’s tradition of packing the final quarter of the year with as many launches as humanly possible.
Seriously, I think they’ve just had a lucky stretch of good weather and lack of other delays. I think the launch teams have earned Christmas Day off this year.
Blair Ivey,
I think you mean “That would be down South, suh.”
Jeff Wright,
Delta IIs, even at “lower cost,” still cost more than Falcon 9s. But you can quit hating them now – they’re dead.
Richard M,
Christmas off is probably doable. But I suspect SpaceX will be working Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.