Business · Ars Technica
Activity at SpaceX’s oldest launch site, Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral, is also waning
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SpaceX is constructing a second Starship factory at Kennedy Space Center, but officials want to begin Starship flights from Florida before the factory is operational.
Key facts
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX conducted 165 launches with the Falcon 9 rocket (no Falcon Heavy missions) last year, up from 134 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches in 2024 and 96 Falcon flights in 2023
- The company plans “maybe 140, 145-ish” Falcon launches in 2026, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told Time earlier this year
- Brian Chatman, commander of the military unit overseeing Cape Canaveral’s launch range, said the Space Force is preparing for as many as 500 launches per year from Florida’s Space Coast by 2036
- The retirement of the ISS, previously targeted for 2030, is now unlikely to occur before 2032
Summary
It is far too soon to mention retirement, but astute observers of the space industry have noticed SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket is not launching as often as it used to. The decline is modest so far, and it does not signal any problem at SpaceX or with the Falcon 9. Elon Musk’s SpaceX conducted 165 launches with the Falcon 9 rocket (no Falcon Heavy missions) last year, up from 134 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches in 2024 and 96 Falcon flights in 2023. They're beginning to see what the long, slow tail-off will look like. SpaceX is transitioning the site at Kennedy, known as Launch Complex-39A, to launch Starships.