WASHINGTON — SpaceX ended an 11-day hiatus in launches late Dec. 18 with a successful Starlink mission, however the gap likely means the corporate will fall just in need of its goal of 100 Falcon launches this 12 months.
A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 49 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:01 p.m. Eastern. The rocket deployed its payload of 23 Starlink “v2 mini” satellites into orbit a bit of greater than an hour later.
The launch was the primary for SpaceX since a Falcon 9 launch of one other set of Starlink satellites early Dec. 8 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The gap of virtually 11 days between launches is the longest for the corporate this 12 months. SpaceX has averaged about 4 days between launches in 2023.
Several aspects contributed to the gap in launches. Poor weather conditions in Florida delayed the most recent Starlink launch from last week. A Falcon Heavy launch of the Space Force’s X-37B spaceplane from Launch Complex 39A on the Kennedy Space Center was scrubbed Dec. 11 due to a ground equipment issue, but has since been delayed to no sooner than Dec. 28, reportedly due to issues with the rocket.
SpaceX had scheduled a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg carrying Starlink satellites for Dec. 14, then delayed it a day before pushing it back again to Dec. 28. SpaceX didn’t disclose the explanation for the prolonged delay, but is believed to release a launch opportunity for the German SARah 2 and three radar imaging satellites as soon as Dec. 21.
The mix of things means SpaceX will likely fall just in need of a goal set earlier this 12 months of 100 Falcon launches. The corporate has now conducted 92 launches — 88 of the Falcon 9 and 4 of the Falcon Heavy — up to now this 12 months. Along with the X-37B, Starlink and SARah launches, SpaceX is predicted to try another Starlink launch from Florida in addition to the launch of the Ovzon-3 communications satellite. All those launches would bring SpaceX’s total for the 12 months to 97.
Even before the recent gap, a SpaceX executive said attending to 100 would have been a stretch. “100 could be very much on the table, but it should take excellent execution, relentless deal with safety and reliability, and a bit of luck with the weather!” said Kiko Dontchev, vp of launch, in a Dec. 4 social media post.
Despite missing the goal, the corporate’s launch cadence has been a big achievement compared each to its past activity in addition to global competitors. SpaceX launches increased by greater than 50% from 2022 and are triple what it performed in 2021.
SpaceX accounts for nearly half of the 209 orbital launch attempts up to now in 2023, 200 of which were successful. (Those figures don’t include two Starship launches in April and November that, even when completely successful, wouldn’t have achieved orbit.) Amongst American firms, SpaceX has performed more the nine times as many launches this 12 months because the second most lively company, Rocket Lab, which recently flew its tenth Electron rocket of 2023.
SpaceX expects to proceed increasing its launch cadence into 2024. In testimony to a Senate space subcommittee Oct. 18, Bill Gerstenmaier, vp of construct and flight reliability at SpaceX, said the corporate was planning to conduct 144 launches — 12 per 30 days — in 2024.