Increased Pace of Launch

Its impressive how fast SpaceX is ramping up their launch pace. Their total for the 2023 was 98 launches that put approximately 1,237,085 kg into orbit. [1] This is almost double of their launch mass in 2022 of 633,779 kg. [2]

Even more impressive, the Falcon 9 now has a 98.97% success rate [3] over 299 launches [4]. Not bad for a rocket developed for $390 million. [5] In contrast, a new F1 racing engine can cost $1.5 billion. [6]

Image adapted from https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/12ibwtp/graph_of_falcon_9_falcon_heavy_mass_to_orbit_over/

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Panel Discussion on The Downlink podcast regarding NASA’s Space-Based Solar Power Report

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Changing Satellite Design Performance