This Week in Launch: SpaceX hits 100+ launches in 2024

This week, SpaceX hit its first triple-digit launch year and continues to extend that number in the remaining months of 2024. Blue Origin might finally get its NS-27 mission off the ground to certify its new New Shepard rocket. Finally, NASA’s Artemis program is once again under fire for being behind schedule and so much… so much… over budget.

This week’s launches

• October 21 (Monday)
  • SpaceX | Starlink Group 6-61 | 6:58 P.M. EDT
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
  • CASC | Long March 6 | Unknown Payload | 8:10 P.M. EDT
    • LC-16, Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China
• October 22 (Tuesday)
  • CASC | Long March 2C | Unknown Payload | 9:05 P.M. EDT
    • LC-3, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China
• October 23 (Wednesday)
  • Blue Origin | New Shepard | NS-27 | 10:00 A.M. CDT
    • Launch Site One, West Texas, Texas
• October 24 (Thursday)
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | NROL-167 | 10:15 A.M. PDT
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB, California
• October 26 (Saturday)
  • MHI | H3-22S | Kirameki 3 | 2:44 A.M. EDT
    • LA-Y2, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

The News…

Blue Origin’s second New Shepard booster will now be on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This was the first New Shepard booster to successfully launch and propulsively land. In total, it flew five times and has been on display at Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket factory in Florida since 2018. [collectSpace]

Elon Musk is suing the California Coastal Commission for blocking SpaceX’s request to increase its Vandenberg launch cap from 36 launches to 50. The lawsuit states commission members blocked the increase due to Musk’s political views, which differ from the predominantly left-leaning state. [Reuters]

Starliner-1 further delayed into late 2025 as NASA continues its data review to determine if the spacecraft is safe for operational use. The next two Commercial Crew missions will be SpaceX Crew-10 (February) and Crew-11 (July). [Space News]

SpaceX successfully launched its fifth integrated Starship rocket last Saturday, which featured the mind-blowing catch of its booster back at the launch pad. This major milestone brings some faith that Starship’s plans to help build lunar and Martian bases could actually be coming true (in the distant future). [Space Explored]

Don’t expect an SLS launch next year

It has been over two years since NASA launched the Artemis 1 mission, which hoped to formally usher in the Artemis and SLS era of launches. Since then, nothing has seemingly gone right for the program. Orion’s more than expected erosion of its heat shield has still yet to be explained, the Mobile Launcher 2 platform has yet to begin construction, and we’re still no less than a year away from Artemis 2.

To make matters worse, that September 2025 launch date for Artemis 2 is unlikely to hold as NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems has already eaten through its schedule margin troubleshooting Mobile Launcher 1 and other ground infrastructure issues.

At this point, we’re likely to see Starship launch its first satellite deployment mission (probably Starlink satellites) before Artemis 2 gets the “go” to launch.

SpaceX hits new triple digit launch record

SpaceX officially hit triple-digit launches last week and over the weekend, if you don’t include Starship. This beats the company’s previous launch record of 98 launches in 2023. The breakdown of this year’s launches includes 98 Falcon 9s, two Falcon Heavies, and two Starship launches.

SpaceX is on track with its current rate to hit roughly 124 launches, about 24 less than previously expected. If it weren’t for three groundings of its Falcon 9 rocket, the company might be much closer to hitting that 148 launch goal. But as hurricane season continues, at least for one more month, that 124 launch estimate will probably drop.

Most of SpaceX’s launches have been for the company’s Starlink satellite infrastructure. In fact, only 33 launches this year have been for outside customers. While that number alone beats almost every other launch provider (outside China), it still might show that the commercial launch market isn’t booming as greatly as some SpaceX fans might think it is, although it is, in fact, at an all-time high.