SpaceX marked a new milestone in its history by breaking its own record for space launches on December 31, 2024. With 134 flights carried out this year, Elon Musk's company reached an impressive milestone, exceeding its total of 38 launches. previous year. This success demonstrates the meteoric evolution of SpaceX, which is pursuing its objective of revolutionizing access to space, while consolidating its Starlink network, the largest constellation of satellites in operation.
One last launch to close the year
This last mission of the year 2024 involved, once again, a Falcon 9 rocket. The launcher, the company's true workhorse, took off from Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, at 12:34 a.m. EST (6:34 a.m. Paris time). The objective was to deliver a new batch of satellites Starlink in low Earth orbit.
The rocket used had already been involved in several notable missions, such as Crew-6, BlueBird-1 and previous Starlink launches. This reuse of rocket stages is one of the aspects that sets SpaceX apart from its competitors, allowing the company to reduce launch costs and improve efficiency.
With more than 6,850 satellites currently in orbitStarlink is now the largest satellite constellation ever deployed. Each launch, like the one on December 31, further expands the internet coverage of this constellation, bringing connectivity solutions to remote regions poorly served by terrestrial infrastructure.
A record year
SpaceX reached a total of 134 launches in 2024a figure which exceeds the previous year's record by 38. Elon Musk's company, which initially targeted 140 launches, continued to dominate the global space industry, with a sustained rate of launches, notably for its Starlink missions, which constitute a large part of its activity.
In comparison, China stood out with 68 launches in 2024, also beating its previous record of 67 launches in a calendar year, reached in 2023. Although its total is lower than that of SpaceX, China, which was aiming for alongside around a hundred launches, will also have marked an important step in its space development. The country notably largely dominated Asia in terms of the number of launches, far surpassing Russia, with its 17 launches, and positioning itself behind the United States.
Among these 68 Chinese launches, several involved commercial solid propellant rockets, such as the Kinetica-1, which unfortunately failed at the end of December. Despite this failure, China has continued to strengthen its launch capabilities, notably through megaconstellation projects like Qianfan and Guowang, planning even more launches in the years to come.
