Elon Musk‘s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX completed 10 launches in January, making it the first month the company has achieved such a milestone.
What Happened: With a Falcon 9 rocket launching Northrop Grumman's 20th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, SpaceX completed 10 launches this month. The rocket manufacturer has no more launches lined up for this month.
Though a milestone by itself, 10 launches a month is lower than the target set by the company for 2024. This year, SpaceX is eyeing 144 launches or 12 launches per month.
However, the lag might be due to the planned maintenance undertaken by the company earlier this month.
Why It Matters: SpaceX VP of Launch, Kiko Dontchev, mentioned in a post on X earlier this month that the company was undergoing planned maintenance on various equipment including its SLC-40 launch pad in Florida. The company is planning a factory model where the equipment is always running except for planned and unplanned maintenance in its bid to achieve a higher launch rate, the executive then said.
The company is also trying to ensure that the launch system, including pads, recovery, and flight hardware, is capable of withstanding at least 13 launches per month, Dontchev said in another post. This would enable the company to catch up if there are any slowdowns due to maintenance or even weather.
In 2023, SpaceX completed 96 launches, marking a remarkable 57% year-on-year increase. The company's launch numbers have been steadily increasing, with 26 launches in 2020, 31 in 2021, and 61 in 2022.
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