SpaceX has had its busiest year yet, launching more Falcon rocket missions than ever, though it fell just short of reaching a major milestone.
At the start of 2023, SpaceX had its sights set on achieving 100 Falcon rocket launches by December 31. It breezed past its current annual record of 60 launches in September, but looks set to just fall short of its ambitious target for this year.
In the SpaceX’s busiest 12-month period since launching the first Falcon rocket in 2010, it’s so far achieved 90 flights using its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket and four missions using its Falcon Heavy rocket, which is basically three Falcon 9 boosters linked together.
Before the end of the year, SpaceX plans to fly one more Falcon Heavy rocket mission and two more Falcon 9 missions, taking its total number of Falcon flights to 97.
