For the sixth consecutive year, SpaceX is on track to set a new annual launch record for the Falcon 9 rocket. This underscores SpaceX’s increasing dominance in orbital launch activities, as well as the success of its reusable booster system in enabling frequent, low-cost flights.
The Elon Musk-led space company is expected to conduct 159 Falcon 9 launches by the end of the year, surpassing last year’s figure of 132 – 134 if you count the two Falcon Heavy launches, each of which used three Falcon 9 boosters. While some of the launches involved deploying satellites for governments and organizations, the vast majority of missions sent batches of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites into orbit.
Thinking back to 2015, when SpaceX completed just 10 Falcon 9 missions, the increase in the company’s launch frequency is quite astonishing.
The company was able to increase its launch activity largely thanks to the reliability of its work rocket and the company’s ability to land the first stage launch vehicle after launch, allowing it to reuse each one for multiple missions.
SpaceX’s main competitors include United Launch Alliance and Rocket Lab, but neither company has come close to the number of launches that SpaceX achieved in 2025.
One to watch is Blue Origin, a space company founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. While the company is best known for its New Shepard single-stage suborbital rocket, which has been carrying paying passengers on trips to the edge of space since 2021, the company is now focused on developing its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket, which is above the Falcon 9 in terms of thrust but below the Falcon Heavy.
The New Glenn completed its first flight in January 2025 and its second just last month, deploying two Mars satellites for NASA.
Blue Origin failed to land the first stage launch vehicle on its maiden mission in January, but did so last month, matching SpaceX’s landing of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
SpaceX’s busiest year yet ran parallel to the development of Starship, its next-generation mega-rocket intended for crew and cargo missions to the moon and possibly Mars.
The Starship completed its first test flight in 2023 and has flown 10 more times since then. The next test flight is expected to take place early next year.
