SpaceX Seeks to Increase Launch Frequency as Competitors Develop New Rockets

SpaceX is working to increase its flight rate this year as competitors debut new vehicles for the launch market. The company is hoping to maintain its position as a leading provider of launch services.

Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company is aiming to conduct up to 100 orbital flights in 2023, Mr. Musk said in a tweet last August. That would represent a 64% jump compared with the 61 missions the company handled last year—itself the top number among private and government rocket launchers around the world, according to a new report from astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracks global space flight.

SpaceX has built a strong position in the launch market with its Falcon 9 rocket, which is supported by a reusable booster that can land back on Earth after launch.

SpaceX had a busy year in 2019, with most of their missions using Falcon 9 rockets. The exception was a November launch of the Falcon Heavy vehicle for a national-security mission. According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration, more than half of the Falcon 9 flights deployed the company's Starlink internet satellites.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket now holds the world record for most launches of a single vehicle type in a single year, the company said in a tweet last month. On average, SpaceX launched every six days last year, that tweet said.

A spokesperson for SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, was not available for comment.

According to a September estimate from Deutsche Bank analysts, the size of the global launch market amounted to roughly $8 billion in 2022. The analysts project that the market will grow to $35 billion by 2030.

The number of orbital flights is increasing as companies and governments set new ambitions for commercial, scientific and other projects in space. According to a report from Dr. McDowell, 180 launches reached orbit in 2022, up from 86 missions five years ago.

Several rocket-launch companies are working to roll out new rockets. Amazon.com Inc. has purchased a significant amount of future launch capacity, last year securing up to 83 missions from three providers for Project Kuiper, the satellite-internet business it has been planning.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is planning to launch its new rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, in the first quarter of 2020. The Vulcan Centaur is a new generation of rocket that is powered by engines built by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin LLC. The Vulcan Centaur will be used for 38 launches for Project Kuiper in the years ahead, as well as for national security missions.

Blue Origin is also working to develop a large rocket called New Glenn. An executive at the company said at an industry event last March that Blue Origin had been looking to launch the vehicle for the first time at the end of 2022, but added it moved off that time frame. A spokeswoman for Blue Origin said the company is making progress on New Glenn and will fly it when it is ready.

Rocket Lab USA Inc. is developing a rocket called Neutron that it is looking to launch on its inaugural flight in 2024, company executives have said. The Neutron rocket would be larger and more powerful than the company's Electron vehicle, which was blasted off nine times from a site in New Zealand last year.

"There is a growing demand for space-based services and people are becoming more aware of the options available to them," Mr. Beck said in a recent interview.

SpaceX is also working on a new rocket, called Starship. Although the company has not said when it might try to fly the vehicle on its first orbital test mission, the initial Starship flights are likely to deploy Starlink satellites, executives at the company have said.

According to a report from Dr. McDowell, last year saw the most rocket launches reaching orbit, with 76 launches from US operators led by SpaceX. This was followed by 62 launches from Chinese companies or agencies, and 21 from Russia.

Last year, China launched three astronauts into orbit so they could take over the final work of building the country's Tiangong space station. In addition to that facility, China is working on projects for the moon.

In November, NASA conducted the first test launch of its Space Launch System rocket, which was developed by Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp. and other companies. The successful launch of the Orion spacecraft to a lunar orbit and back to Earth marked the first time the agency had operated its own orbital rocket since the final space shuttle mission in 2011.

Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development, said in an October interview that NASA needs to get back to the moon on a regular basis. He said that in today's environment, it is important for NASA to be relevant and that means accelerating its plans.