Global orbital launch attempts declined year over year in Q3 for the first time in years. There were two culprits for the slowdown: fewer Chinese launches and three—count ’em: three—Falcon 9 anomalies that grounded the workhorse rocket for weeks.
US launch: SpaceX flew 27 Falcon missions in Q3, while Firefly’s Alpha and ULA’s Atlas V each launched once to round out the 29 total US missions. The Atlas V launch was the last national security mission for the legendary rocket.
SpaceX: Falcon Q3 payload breakdown: Starlink (17), government satellites (4), commercial (3), crew (2), rideshare (1).
SpaceX has flown Falcon 94 times in the first nine months of the year: January (10), February (9), March (12), April (12), May (14), June (10), July (6), August (12), September (9). While the company is just two launches away from hitting its record-breaking full-year 2023 Falcon total, the three anomalies in Q3 has likely put its stated 2024 goal of 148 launches out of reach.
Rocket Lab: Rocket Lab’s three Electron launches this quarter were flown out of New Zealand, categorized in the Other column in the chart.
Europe launch: Europe said hello to one rocket and goodbye to another this quarter.
- The much anticipated Ariane 6 rocket made its debut on July 9, restoring Europe’s independent access to space. While the maiden flight was largely positive, the second-stage engine failed to initiate its deorbit burn, resulting in a big ole asterisk on mission success.
- In early September, Europe launched Vega on its final flight. The rocket’s successor, Vega-C, is slated to return to flight later this year.
China launch: China launched 16 rockets in Q3, which is flat quarter over quarter but down compared to Q3 last year. Notable launches include:
- Two Long March 6A launches (on July 4 and Aug. 6) resulted in large orbital debris patches with hundreds of trackable fragments.
- The Aug. 6 flight was also noteworthy as it deployed the first 18 satellites in the Thousand Sails constellation, China’s attempt to build a Starlink-like network.
Japan launch: Japan launched an H3 rocket on its first operational mission. H3 can lift 6.5T to GTO. JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are reportedly targeting a price tag of ~$50M.
