Record-breaking launch rates despite Musk's Twitter turmoil

 

SpaceX acquired the lease to Space Launch Complex-40 in Florida in 2007,” he said.

“Since that time its operations have grown to encompass two launch pads and three launch towers (including the new Starship tower at LC-39A).

“There are hundreds of employees. The company has gone from averaging about two launches a year from 2010 to 2014, to more than 50 launches from Florida in 2022.

“This increase in launch cadence is both remarkable and unprecedented.”

There has not been such a launch rate in Florida since the 1960s, when most were missile test flights.

Gary Dahlke, a volunteer at the Sands Space History Centre in Florida, said companies such as SpaceX were setting new records in this era.

“I can remember working in the Space Shuttle programme and if we had 12 to 15 launches in a year, that was an extraordinary number,” he said.

“And then all of a sudden these new companies come along — SpaceX probably in particular — that have increased the launch rate a phenomenal rate.”