Falcon 9 launches 53 Starlink satellites on August 19, 2022. (Credit: SpaceX webcast)
by Douglas MessierEditor-in-Chief
It was a relatively quiet week for launches with SpaceX and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) both making one flight each.
SpaceX launched 53 Starlink broadband satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday. The company has launched 3,108 Starlink satellites with 2,809 spacecraft in operation, according to Jonathan’s Space Report.
It was the ninth flight for the Falcon 9 first stage supporting this mission, which previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301 and now four Starlink missions. The first stage landed on a drone ship at sea.
On Saturday, CASC launched the Yaogan 35-04A, Yaogan 35-04B and Yaogan 35-04C reconnaissance satellites aboard a Long March 2D rocket for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. CASC performed the flight from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
CASC said it was a record-breaking 103rd consecutive successful launch of the Long March rocket family, which has flown a total of 433 times.
Launch to date
US companies have launched 54 times this year, with 52 successes and two failures. The number surpasses the 51 orbital launches (48 successful, three failures) that US suppliers performed in 2021. SpaceX has launched 37 Falcon 9 rockets this year, all successfully. The two American failures were from Astra Space, which retired its Rocket 3.3 booster.
Orbital Launches by NationGener – August 21, 2022
NationSuccessesFailuresTotal percentage of launchesNotesUnited States5225451.43Includes Rocket Lab Electron launches from New Zealand; final rocket flight 3.3 (failed) China3113230.48 Crew, cargo and module launches to space station; successful maiden flights of Long March 6A and ZK-1ARussia1201211.43Includes 1 Soyuz ST-B launch from the European Spaceport in French Guiana by Arianespace; Successful maiden flight of Angara-1.2India1132.862 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (Success), Small Satellite Launch Vehicle debut (Failure)Europe2021.9Ariane 5, Vega-CIran debut1010.95Launch Vehicle successful South Korea1010.95 orbital launch successful national launch vehicle (Nuri); second successful orbital launch by nationTotal1014105100
Chinese companies have launched 32 times this year, with 31 successes and one failure. CASC has been launched 28 times. CAS Space, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) and Galactic Energy have launched once. The only Chinese launch failure was i-space’s Hyperbola launch vehicle.
Russia has launched a dozen times, India three times and Europe twice. Iran and South Korea each have one launch. And Japan isn’t on the board yet.