Hello again, space friends, Erik von Ancken here.
It wasn’t even close. SpaceX, of course, launched more than any other rocket maker this year from the Space Coast -- by a factor of 14.
Saturday night, SpaceX smashed last year’s launch record by almost double: 58 launches in one year and we still have two months to go. The record for launches from the Space Coast last year was 31.
You’re probably not surprised it was SpaceX that not only broke the record but was even capable of such a rapid launch cadence. Of the 58 launches already this year, 54 were by SpaceX.
It’s not a coincidence the other rocket builders and launch providers not named SpaceX do not use recycled rockets. As soon as SpaceX figured out how to successfully land and reuse a rocket within days, it unlocked endless possibilities -- more launches, faster launches, lower-cost launches.
SpaceX, unlike the others, is no longer bound by how many rockets it can build, but rather by how many rockets it can refurbish, which takes days, not months.
If SpaceX stays on track, we should see around 70 total launches by the end of this year. Can SpaceX do it even faster next year? Sure, if they utilize both SpaceX Space Coast launchpads all the time (remember, 39A at KSC is occasionally occupied by astronaut launches).
And could SpaceX lease another launchpad? Sure, if demand is there for a ride to space. And demand is only increasing -- from governments, NASA, private companies and even private people.
📧 Have any topics you’d like to discuss? Send me an email here.
👋 Here’s a little bit about me.
I’ve covered space for News 6 beginning in the days after Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry in 2003.
Since then, I’ve been at Kennedy Space Center reporting on nearly every space shuttle launch and the retirement of the shuttle program with Atlantis’ final flight in 2011.
I’ve climbed aboard Shuttle Atlantis’ flight deck and flown twice with the Air Force Thunderbirds in an F-16.
I’ve also reported on the rebirth of KSC and the Space Coast, covering the first SpaceX cargo missions to the International Space Station, leading up to the first crewed launch to the ISS in nearly a decade when the newest American-made rocket with American astronauts blasted off from American soil.
And I continue to track NASA’s SLS as the Artemis I Moon Rocket is readied for rollout and first flight.
I was at KSC when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos first announced his plans to bring his Blue Origin space tourism company to the Space Coast and reported from Long Beach, Calif., on up-and-coming aerospace tech, including Virgin Orbit.
I’ve interviewed Elon Musk one-on-one, and I very much look forward to speaking with you every week.