New Year Launch Gives 2024 A Record-Breaking Space Record
December 31, 2024 – When a Falcon 9 rocket took off from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 31, it marked the 93rd and last launch for the year, breaking the record for most launches that was set last year by 29%.
Another impressive statistic for SpaceX is that the company had zero failures during 2024’s 134 launches (from Florida and Vandenberg), an admirable safety and reliability record.
And the pace shows no signs of slacking.
“Florida stands alone as the only state to designate space as an official mode of transportation, and its strategic infrastructure investment of nearly $565 million has driven an expected $4 billion in private capital — a threefold growth in just five years,” said Rob Long, president and CEO, Space Florida. “This past year highlights Florida’s commitment to driving the industry forward and finding creative ways to address key infrastructure challenges that must be addressed if we want to keep pace with industry growth.”
Space Florida estimates the state must prepare to support transporting 5,000 metric tons of cargo annually to space by 2035. This scale equates to 219 Falcon 9 launches, 40 Starship launches, 194 ULA Vulcan launches, or 111 New Glenn launches — a testament to the immense growth trajectory of the industry.
The first Florida launch for 2025 is the anticipated SpaceX Falcon 9 that will launch Space42’s Thuraya-4 geostationary telecommunications satellite early Thursday morning, Jan 2, according to the Federal Aviation Administration operations plan.
Source: Space Florida ; Florida Today
PARTNER WITH US
