United States
Launch service launches from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg 2014-2023
Launches from the Cape and Vandenberg have increased primarily due to one launch service provider: SpaceX.
January, February launches by nation, 2024
January, February launches in 2024 put the planet in line for the busiest year in space, averaging a launch to space every 32 hours.
After Russian ASAT leak, superpowers back away from showdown
Growing threats from anti-satellite weapons were spotlighted in February when U.S. officials warned Congress about a Russian weapons development program targeting spacecraft with nuclear weapons.
SpaceX surpasses its 50th astronaut launched to space
SpaceX launched its Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station, surpassing 50 humans sent to space by the company. This is the first spaceflight for spacecraft commander Matthew Dominick and specialists Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin. However, it is pilot Michael Barratt’s third voyage into orbit.
Launch Records Topple in 2024 with Busiest January of Space Age
Averaging a liftoff every 33 hours and 49 minutes, January’s 22 successful launches to space marked the busiest start to a year since the Space Age dawned in 1957, and put the globe on track for 259 launches in 2024, which would easily eclipse records set in 2023, according to a Space Foundation database.
Launch Attempts by Country and Category, 2023
The United States launched 11 military missions in the year, including payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office and a new generation of small communications satellites for the Space Development Agency. Russia launched 10 civil government missions in 2023, including Soyuz launches to send crews to the International Space Station, which remains one area of cooperation between the Kremlin and NASA. India made headlines with its successful launch of a lunar probe while the European Space Agency, awaiting its new Ariane-6 launch vehicle, launched three spacecraft including its Euclid space observatory.
Launch Attempts by Select Nations, 2022-2023
The record number of launches came despite delays that pushed the debuts of several long-anticipated launch vehicles into 2024. It was the third consecutive year to shatter launch records, despite a decline in European and Russian launches.
Spy Agency Uses Data from Space, Experience on the Ground to Win Battles, Save Lives with Maps
Seizing the high ground to see what lies ahead, a skill as old as warfare itself, has never been more important. Now, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the intelligence community’s mapmakers, are seizing the high ground of commercial space to augment the products they deliver to the military and first responders at disaster scenes.
Accelerated Launch Pace, Debris and AI Shape the 2024 Space Forecast
[caption id="attachment_14346" align="alignleft" width="309"] At Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, leaders expect to fire off a record 100 launch vehicles in 2024.Credit: NASA[/caption] Introduction | Coming off a year that again… NASA Completes First Laser Communications Beyond Moon
As scientific instruments get more precise and the private and public sectors work to send humans farther into space than ever before, space data transfers are more important than ever before.