SpaceX is aiming for 148 launches in 2024, once again another increase over the 98 it completed the year before. This cadence would mean the company would have to launch once every two and a half days. Keep track below of all of SpaceX’s 2024 launches.
So far, SpaceX has launched eight rockets in 2024, eight Falcon 9, no Falcon Heavies, and no Starships.
SpaceX 2024 launches at a glance
Starship not included in success and launch rates.
Number of launches: 8 (Falcon 9: 8, Falcon Heavy: 0, Starship 0)
Non-Starlink missions: 2
Resued boosters: 7
Launch success rate: 100%
Launch rate: 3.63 days (Needed for 148 launches: 2.47 days or lower)
East Coast launches: 5 (LC-39A: 2, SLC-41: 3)
Gulf Coast launches: 0 (Starbase)
West Coast launches: 3 (SLC-4E)
Total payload mass: ~90,600 kg (Not including classified and rideshare missions or crew)
Total crew: 4 (Government: 3, Commercial: 1)
Landings at a glance
Starship not included
Number of landings: 8
Landing success rate: 100%
Ground landings: 2 (LZ-1: 2, LZ-2: 0, LZ-4: 0)
Droneship landings: 6 (OCISLY: 2, JRTI: 0, ASOG: 4)
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2024: When Starship testing gets serious
In 2023 Starship finally made its long awaited debut, in its fully integrated form. For 2024, Starship launches will obviously play another big role in keeping SpaceX in the headlines (good and bad).
We don’t know exactly how many test flights SpaceX will get off but if the company wants to have any chance of meeting NASA’s Artemis timelines it should be in the double digits. By the end of they year NASA really needs to see some serious progress towards Starship being a viable rocket and in space refueling being perfected.
If SpaceX could get past regular and lengthy (in SpaceX standards) FAA investigations, we could see Starship launches happen weeks or less apart. That amount of flight data and experience could turn Starship into a much more viable commercial rocket and build confidence for Artemis 3‘s 2026 timeline.
Record setting human spaceflight year?
At the beginning of 2023 it looked like SpaceX was going to also increase its record for most human spaceflight launches in one year. Sadly, delays to the Polaris Dawn mission meant that the company matched its current record at three.
Something that is, and should still be, an amazing accomplishment for SpaceX.
In 2024, if all schedules hold or don’t delay too much, SpaceX could launch as many as five crewed missions to space. At least three have little to none scheduling concerns like the two Commercial Crew missions for NASA and Axiom-3.
Two other missions that are set to liftoff this year are Axiom-4 in the fall and the Polaris Dawn mission. The debut Polaris launch this year is the most exciting as it will feature the first private space walk. This sort of ability will be valuable if SpaceX and Polaris get the go ahead from NASA to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Weekly launches from California
Vandenberg, the spaceport that has been around for as long as missiles were being launch by the US, has been neglected in recent years with high launch rates. SpaceX has been changing that in recent months. Soon the West Coast will start to see as much action that Florida has been seeing for years.
SpaceX hopes to launch as much as once a week from Vandenberg in 2024. With the increased business from Florida, the ability to launch more Starlink missions from California will favor improvements in bandwidth. In future years, SpaceX could launch as much as it has in Florida, circa 2023.
List of SpaceX launches in 2024
Date (UTC) | Mission | Rocket / Booster(s) | Launch Pad | Landing |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 3 | Starlink Group 7-9 | Falcon 9 (B1082.1) | SLC-4E | OCISLY |
January 3 | Ovzon-3 | Falcon 9 (B1076.10) | SLC-40 | LZ-1 |
January 7 | Starlink Group 6-35 | Falcon 9 (B1067.16) | SLC-40 | ASOG |
January 14 | Starlink Group 7-10 | Falcon 9 (B1061.18) | SLC-4E | OCISLY |
January 15 | Starlink Group 6-37 | Falcon 9 (B1073.12) | SLC-40 | ASOG |
January 18 | Axiom-3 | Falcon 9 (B1080.5) | LC-39A | LZ-1 |
January 24 | Starlink Group 7-11 | Falcon 9 (B1063.16) | SLC-4E | OCISLY |
January 29 | Starlink Group 6-38 | Falcon 9 (B1062.18) | LC-39A | ASOG |
Other launch trackers
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