2022
Spacecraft deployed by payload type, 2021-2023
Commercial satellites accounted for 90% of space-craft launched in 2023, with communications satellite constellations leading the pack.
Proportion of governments that increased space spending, 2018-2023
Preliminary data shows that 81% of governments with space programs increased spending in 2023.
Vandenberg customer mission share 2014–2023
No single mission segment dominated the base’s launches until 2022, when 10 of 16 Vandenberg launches delivered commercial payloads to space.
Vandenberg customer mission share 2014–2023
NASA share of U.S. federal budget, 1959-2025
The overall Pentagon budget proposal for 2025 is $850 billion, $8 billion more than its 2024 request.
Cumulative human spaceflight, 1961–March 18, 2024
Human spaceflight activity is off to a rapid pace in 2024 with a private Axiom mission, a public ISS mission, and a private Virgin Galactic mission taking flight in the first nine weeks of the year.
Annual launch attempts, 2022, 2023, 2024 projection
The pace is expected to quicken, with a dozen more new launch vehicles preparing for flight.
SNAPSHOT: New launch vehicles
The launches included successful maiden flights for three new launch vehicles. With a dozen more new launch vehicles expected to debut, 2024 appears poised to be a game-changing year in orbital flight.
Space Development Agency’s Tournear still has need for speed
Four years into his tenure atop the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency, Derek Tournear saw key goals realized in 2023. The first small, commercially built satellites for missile warning and communications are set to change how the Pentagon detects missile threats
Space Force Guardians, FY2022 and FY 2023
The Space Force, which falls under the Department of the Air Force, employed 13,716 Guardians and civilian workers at the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, an increase of 34.7%