2024 Archives

U.S. space industry employment and U.S. total employment relative to 2012

U.S. private sector space employment in five key sectors grew 4.8% from 2022 to 2023, continuing a trend of steady growth in the space industry since 2016.

INSIGHT: White House strategy key to future space workforce

It is the year 2044 and you have been assigned to help manage the extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) including neodymium, dysprosium, and europium from an approaching asteroid.

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.

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.

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