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Up to 14 Large Rockets and Tiny Competitors Are Poised for Launch in 2024

ULA’s Vulcan has completed a series of tests ahead of a planned January flight.” with the launch now successful, change to “ULA’s Vulcan completed a series of tests ahead of its successful January flight. Credit: ULA

Space leaders in 2023 pondered a lack of launch vehicles to lift anticipated swarms of satellites to orbit. But 2024 could bring relief.

Led by Sharp Uptick in Commercial Demand and U.S. Space Launches, All-time Records Topple for Attempts and Successful Space Flights in 2023

A Soyuz rocket lifts off in one of Russia’s 19 launches of 2023. Russia maintained its third-place rank among spacefaring nations. Credit: Roscosmos

In what was the busiest year of the Space Age, 2023 set records with 223 launch attempts and 212 successful launches. A sharp uptick in commercial space launches drove much of the increase, with the highest number of launches coming from the United States.

The S-Network Space Index℠ 2023 Performance

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket goes through a wet dress rehearsal on April 28, 2023, before the May 8 launch of NASA’s TROPICS satellites. Even though the company suffered a failure during one of its 10 launch attempts in 2023, it was one of the highest performing companies in the index. Credit: Rocket Lab/NASA

The S-Network Space Index℠ tracks a global portfolio of publicly traded companies that are active in space-related businesses such as satellite-based telecommunications; transmission of television and radio content via satellite; launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing, deployment, operation, and maintenance; manufacturing of ground equipment that relies on satellite systems; development of space technology and hardware; and space-based imagery and intelligence services.