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SNAPSHOT: New launch vehicles

With 41 launches before March 1, this year had the fastest start since the down of the Space Age and put the year easily on track to shatter records set in 2023 and 2022. 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.

Three new launch vehicles make maiden 2024 flights, more to come

Three powerful launch vehicles notched successful maiden flights in the first two months of 2024, with new high-payload machines rocketing from the United States, China, and Japan.1 The group includes the long-anticipated Mitsubishi H-3, which is expected to serve as the premier launch vehicle for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.2

China’s newest offering for commercial space launch, the solid fuel Gravity-1 from Orienspace, made its maiden flight from a floating platform.3 In January, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan launch vehicle flew to space with its Centaur upper stage.

First months of 2024 blaze past records

The first two months of 2024 saw an incredible pace of launches. The record set in 2023 could topple if two players alone make their goals. China has set a national goal of 100 space launches this year.4


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For more data information click below to see the source table.

January, February launches 2022-2024

Meanwhile, SpaceX officials have set their sights on 144 launches in 2024, toppling every commercial spaceflight record.5 Before SpaceX and China hit full stride, 2024 is stacking up well against two recent, record-setting years for spaceflight. The 41 launches before March 1 compared to 28 last year and 21 in 2021. More than half of the launches came from the United States, with 22. China was the only other nation to hit double digits in the first two months of the year, with 10 launches. Iran, a fledgling space power, saw two launches over the period.


(For zoom place cursor on chart then drag up/down and right/left)

For more data information click below to see the source table.

January, February launches by nation, 2024

The launches put the planet in line for the busiest year in space, averaging a launch to space every 32 hours. That pace is four hours below the record 36 hours between launches in 2023 and 11 hours quicker than the 43-hour average time in 2022.


(For zoom place cursor on chart then drag up/down and right/left)

For more data information click below to see the source table.

Annual launch attempts, 2022, 2023, 2024 projection

That rapid pace could easily surpass its launch records, despite the grueling pace set in the past two record-setting years. If spacefaring nations stay on track, the globe will see 246 launches in 2024. The pace is expected to quicken, with a dozen more new launch vehicles preparing for flight, including France’s Ariane-6, which already has 18 contracted flights to help lift Amazon’s Kuiper constellation of low Earth orbit communications satellites.6 SpaceX’s Starship has customers waiting in line as it undergoes a difficult testing phase. In addition to contracts from NASA, SpaceX’s largest launch vehicle is set to lift Starlab, part of a planned constellation of crewed commercial space stations.7

Related Resources

  1. Space Foundation database. “Launch 2024”.
  2. JAXA. “About H-3 Launch Vehicle”. March 5, 2024. https://global.jaxa.jp/projects/rockets/h3/.
  3. Orienspace. “The first flight of Gravity-1 was successful”. Jan. 15, 2024. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4Ag5b3T7IncuRUtf_88Rqg.
  4. China State Information Council. “China to make about 100 space launches in 2024”. Feb. 17, 2024. http://english.scio.gov.cn/chinavoices/2024-02/27/content_117022257.htm.
  5. Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science. “Testimony of William Gerstenmaier”. Oct. 18, 2023. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2023/10/promoting-safety-innovation-and-competitiveness-in-u-s-commercial-human-space-activities.
  6. Arianespace. “Arianespace signs unprecedented contract with Amazon for 18 Ariane 6 launches to deploy Project Kuiper constellation”. April 5, 2022. https://www.arianespace.com/press-release/arianespace-signs-unprecedented-contract-with-amazon-for-18-ariane-6-launches-to-deploy-project-kuiper-constellation/
  7. Michael Sheetz. CNBC. “Starlab, meet Starship.” Jan. 31, 2024. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/31/voyagers-starlab-space-station-buys-spacex-starship-launch.html