SpaceX, the space company led by Elon Musk, plans to reach 100 rocket launches by the end of 2023, and wants to increase it by 50% by 2024, reaching nearly 150 launches in one year.
SpaceX's goal for next year is 144 trips, mainly driven by the launch of Starlink satellites. To put context, SpaceX launched 61 in 2022 and only 31 in 2021.
SpaceX was founded in the 2000s, when only about 60 rockets were launched annually. In 2022, the sector broke all records with 180 launches: 5 from Europe, 21 from Russia, 62 from China, 76 from the United States, and 16 from other countries. Now, SpaceX plans to launch 144 rockets (alone) in 2024.
SpaceX's ridiculous goal
The North American company is putting into orbit a mass roughly ten times larger than its closest competitor: the entire country of China. According to Elon Musk, SpaceX will launch about 80% of the mass sent into space by 2023. China comes in second place with 10%, and the rest of the world is close behind with another 10%.
One of the reasons SpaceX has been able to dramatically increase its launch rate is to recover and reuse the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage. No other rocket company (except Blue Origin with New Shepard) has been able to land their rockets after flight - Much less 17 times.
Originally designed to fly 10 times before undergoing major overhauls, the Falcon 9 has now been certified for 20 flights, although the record is 17 flights. in addition to, SpaceX is taking less and less time to launch again (With a record of 21 days).
In addition to the reusability of the missiles, the company's numerical superiority has something to do with Starlink. Internet service is not only the most strategically important business for a company; But also which represents 60% of his releases.
Only a giant spacecraft capable of flying several times a day, as Musk aims, could put SpaceX in a more advantageous position in this sector.
Read also…
“Friendly zombie fanatic. Analyst. Coffee buff. Professional music specialist. Communicator.”
