Launch

Orbital Launches in Q3, by the Numbers

By Ryan Duffy
Share

BryceTech has released its latest quarterly briefing on rocket launches and satellite deployments from around the world. 

By launch frequency (total spacecraft #s in parentheses)…

  1. China’s CASC led Q3 with 15 orbital launches (and 30 total spacecraft launched)
  2. Arianespace conducted five launches (but transported the most spacecraft—111—of any provider)
  3. SpaceX took bronze, with three orbital trips (and 61 spacecraft launched)

CASC also finished first in the upmass category, with 45,010 kg in Q3 (vs. SpaceX’s 32,634 and Arianespace’s 25,881).

Responding to CNBC’s Michael Sheetz, Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX carried 41 tons (~37,200kg) of payload mass to orbit in July, August, and September of this year—and that SpaceX aims to double that this quarter. He also said: “China launch mass to orbit is extremely impressive.”

  • Countering market research and complimenting space programs via Twitter…Is this as declassified as it gets in space? 

A sign of the times? Of the 226 craft launched in Q3 (and tracked by BryceTech), ~82% are operated by commercial players. 

Share

Upcoming Events

Return Home
Related Stories
Launch

2024 Top 5: Launch

There was no shortage of launch news in 2024. From the debut of new rockets to the retirement of old workhorses, from leadership changes at some startups to others pivoting away from the launch industry all together, it was a year filled with shakeups in how platforms get to space.

Launch • Rockets

Texas Space Incubator Awards Rocket Club Grants

A nonprofit working to develop the space workforce pipeline in Texas has awarded its first two grants to rocket teams at Rice University and Texas A&M, the cofounders of the group told Payload.

International • Launch

Virgin Galactic Considers Launching From Italian Spaceport

The aim is for the Grottaglie Spaceport to serve as a Mediterranean homebase for Virgin’s suborbital commercial and scientific crewed spaceflight, which has been on pause while the company works on its next-generation space tourism vehicle.

International • Launch • Technology

Ukrainian Small Launcher Finds Refuge in the US

Promin’s plan is to hire as many as a dozen US engineers in the coming year who will build Promin 1 with guidance from the engineers who remain in Ukraine.