With a few global launches left at the end of SpaceX before 2021 and with the launch of SpaceX last December, it is safe to say that the Falcon 9 has officially ended as the most popular rocket of the year 2020.
On December 19, the Falcon 9 Booster B1059 took off for the fourth time, taking an undercover US spy satellite to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and marking the 26th successful launch of SpaceX and the 23rd landing of 2020 – an exact bilateral annual launch. With the exception of several surprise launches, the Falcon will position SpaceX for a potentially unprecedented 2021 at the end of 9 years as the world’s most famous rocket and – by best measures – as the world’s most reliable rocket.
Perhaps thanks to Starlink and a number of unfamiliar hardware, software and operational refinements, SpaceX has crushed its previous annual launch record – 21 flights, set in 2018 – by about 25%. In 2020, the Starlink mission represented more than half of the Falcon 9’s 26 launchers, with 840 operational satellites in orbit during approximately 1440 flights.
Due to Falcon 9’s record-breaking performance, in a single year, Starlink has become the world’s largest satellite star by a factor of at least three to four, if not five or more.
Perhaps two or three more international launches are planned between now and 2021, following SpaceX’s NROL-108 mission. Together, the world’s launch providers are on track to successfully complete 103 launches, of which about a quarter could only be credited to the Falcon 9. No other rocket came close: Russia’s R-7 (Soyuz 2.1) family operated 14 successful flights, while China’s long March 2, 3 five completely different types and 4 rockets were able to complete 24 launches in 2020.
In general, China is on track to complete 38 orbital launch efforts (of which 33-34 were successful) by 2020, or the U.S. (attempts 37 attempts; suc 34 successes). *
* Data was collected from Ad Kyle’s surprisingly diligent launch log
Perhaps most importantly, thanks in large part to the steady stream of Falcon 9 reusable utility firsts, SpaceX seems to be on track to crush its impressive 2020 launch record in 2021. With the Falcon 9 Booster examining the first fourth, fifth and sixth reuse collections, as well as the first flight of payload ferries for the third time, there is little doubt that SpaceX will be able to (and likely surpass) the 10-flight target for each Falcon Booster in 2018. .
In the last three months of 2020, SpaceX operated an impressive 10 orbital launches, including the launch of the crew dragon’s operational astronaut launch, the first flight of the state-of-the-art cargo dragon spacecraft, and the Falcon 9’s first west coast launch in 18 months.
Finally, by completing nearly 40% of its annual launches in a single quarter, SpaceX has proven that the annual cadence of 40+ launches – and CEO Elon Musk’s flights – is a fixed target of 48 flights – Good Within reach next year.
