Launch

2024 Q3 Orbital Launch Attempts by Country

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.

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