Elon Musk‘s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX launched its Falcon rocket 14 times in the month of May, exceeding the company’s expectations of launching 12 times every month this year.
What Happened: With the launch of 23 Starlink satellites from Florida on Friday, SpaceX completed 14 launches in May.
The 14 launches include several Starlink missions in addition to the NROL-146 mission, the ESA Earthcare mission and the Maxar 1 mission.
“Great work by the SpaceX Falcon team launching 14 times in a single month!,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X on Saturday.
Why It Matters: SpaceX's goal of delivering 90% of Earth's payload to orbit this year is higher than the 80% payload goal it set last year. SpaceX is also looking to complete 144 launches this year or 12 launches per month.
For the entirety of 2023, SpaceX only completed 96 launches, marking a 57% year-on-year increase, not including two Starship test flights. The company's launch numbers have been steadily increasing, with 26 launches in 2020, 31 in 2021, and 61 in 2022.
Earlier in May, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell confirmed on X that the company has already completed 50 missions this year, not including the Starship test flight in March.
The company is now looking to launch the Starship for its fourth flight test on June 5, pending regulatory approval.
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