2023
Cumulative human spaceflight, 1961–March 18, 2024
![Cumulative human spaceflight, 1961–March 18, 2024](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cumulative-human-spaceflight-1961–March-18-2024-1-150x150.png)
![Cumulative human spaceflight, 1961–March 18, 2024](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cumulative-human-spaceflight-1961–March-18-2024-1.png)
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
![NASA share of U.S. federal budget, 1959-2025](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NASA-share-of-U.S.-federal-budget-1959-2025-150x150.png)
![NASA share of U.S. federal budget, 1959-2025](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NASA-share-of-U.S.-federal-budget-1959-2025.png)
The overall Pentagon budget proposal for 2025 is $850 billion, $8 billion more than its 2024 request.
Annual launch attempts, 2022, 2023, 2024 projection
![Annual launch attempts, 2022, 2023, 2024 projection](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Annual-launch-attempts-2022-2023-2024-projection-1-150x150.png)
![Annual launch attempts, 2022, 2023, 2024 projection](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Annual-launch-attempts-2022-2023-2024-projection-1.png)
The pace is expected to quicken, with a dozen more new launch vehicles preparing for flight.
SNAPSHOT: New launch vehicles
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/New-launch-vehicles-150x150.png)
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/New-launch-vehicles.png)
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
![The Space Development agency has launched satellites to track missiles. Credit: SDA](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Space-Development-agency-has-launched-satellites-to-track-missiles.--150x150.png)
![The Space Development agency has launched satellites to track missiles. Credit: SDA](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Space-Development-agency-has-launched-satellites-to-track-missiles.-.png)
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
U.S. spaceports hosting successful orbital launches, 2014-2023
![U.S. spaceports hosting successful orbital launches, 2014-2023](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/U.S.-spaceports-hosting-successful-orbital-launches-2014-2023-1-150x150.png)
![U.S. spaceports hosting successful orbital launches, 2014-2023](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/U.S.-spaceports-hosting-successful-orbital-launches-2014-2023-1.png)
Launch services conducted 83 launches from Vandenberg and 72 from Kennedy, while Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island performed 19 launches.
Space Force Guardians, FY2022 and FY 2023
![Space Force Guardians, FY2022 and FY2023](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Space-Force-Guardians-FY2022-and-FY2023-1-150x150.png)
![Space Force Guardians, FY2022 and FY2023](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Space-Force-Guardians-FY2022-and-FY2023-1.png)
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%
SNAPSHOT: Human spaceflight
![Cumulative human spaceflight, 1961–March 18, 2024](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cumulative-human-spaceflight-1961–March-18-2024-150x150.png)
![Cumulative human spaceflight, 1961–March 18, 2024](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cumulative-human-spaceflight-1961–March-18-2024.png)
As of mid-March, 685 astronauts have reached at least 80 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. This total includes 86 private astronauts, 22 times as many as there were two decades ago.
Cape Canaveral customer mission share 2014–2023
![Cape Canaveral customer mission share 2014–2023](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cape-Canaveral-customer-mission-share-2014–2023-1-1-150x150.png)
![Cape Canaveral customer mission share 2014–2023](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cape-Canaveral-customer-mission-share-2014–2023-1-1.png)
Launches from Cape Canaveral were military-focused for the first few years, with civil missions not far behind.
Satellites lost by launch operator country and type, 2003-2023
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Satellites-lost-by-launch-operator-country-and-type-2003-2023-1-150x150.png)
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Satellites-lost-by-launch-operator-country-and-type-2003-2023-1.png)
Despite the rising number of lost payloads, satellite operators are getting better at mitigating the harm done to their mission by a launch failure.