Space Launch
FAA-Licensed Launch and Reentry Operations
The regulator's own count. FY2025 was 204 licensed operations (195 launches and 9 reentries), the busiest year in FAA commercial-space history.
FAA-Licensed Launches by Operator, FY2025
SpaceX flew 161 of 195 licensed launches (83%). Rocket Lab's 15 include Electron flights from Mahia, New Zealand, which the FAA licenses because Rocket Lab is a US company.
FAA-Licensed Launches by Site, FY2025
Cape Canaveral 76, Vandenberg 61, Kennedy 26, and Mahia 15, plus 17 at other licensed sites. 195 launches in total. Mahia is licensed because Rocket Lab is a US company.
Global Orbital Launch Cadence
Orbital launches worldwide per year (2020-2025), broken down by country of the launch provider, with SpaceX's Falcon family split out from the rest of US activity.
SpaceX Falcon Family Orbital Launches
Calendar-year Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy flights, 2023 to 2025. 165 in 2025, all Falcon 9 (SpaceX's 424B4 prospectus). Starship tests are excluded.
Falcon 9 Cumulative Booster Landings
Successful first-stage recoveries at milestone dates. The 400th landing was 21 Jan 2025 and the 500th was 5 Sep 2025. Wikipedia's template counted 665 successful landings as of 2 Oct 2026.
Rocket Lab Electron and HASTE Cadence
Missions flown per year from the FY2025 10-K: 10, 16, then 21. Three of the 2025 flights were HASTE hypersonic suborbital tests, not orbital launches.
Payload Mass to Orbit
Tonnes of payload delivered to orbit per year (2020-2025), SpaceX vs the rest of the world. SpaceX flies about half of all launches but carries roughly 85% of the mass, thanks to heavy batched Starlink deployments.
Launch Vehicles by Payload to LEO
Maximum payload to low Earth orbit (LEO) for major Western rockets, from small launchers to Starship. Bars colored by company.