It has now entered 2023. According to the statistics of authoritative organizations, a total of 186 space launch missions will be carried out in the world in 2022, sending a large number of satellites, cargo spacecraft and manned spacecraft into space, creating a record high in recent years. . 178 of these 186 space launch missions were successful, and the global average rocket launch success rate is about 95.7%.
In 2022, countries or organizations that have conducted at least one space launch mission include the United States, China, Russia, the European Union, Japan, India, Iran, and South Korea.
Among them, the United States has carried out a total of 87 launch missions in 2022, accounting for 46.8% of the total global launches, with a launch success rate of 96.6%, and the number of launches ranks first in the world. 84 of these 87 launch missions were successful, sending a total of 793 tons of load into space, accounting for about 77% of the total weight of the orbital load in the world.
Of the 87 launch missions in the United States, 61 were contributed by SpaceX. SpaceX’s launches accounted for about 70% of the total annual launches in the United States, and the launch success rate was 100%. SpaceX has sent a total of 695 tons of payloads into space in 2022, accounting for about 87.6% of the total U.S. annual orbital payload. SpaceX will launch more than 2,000 satellites in 2022, most of which are Starlink satellites.
China will conduct a total of 64 launch missions in 2022, accounting for 34.4% of the world’s total, and the number of launches ranks second in the world. 62 times were successful, with a launch success rate of 96.9%. Two of the failed launch missions came from private aerospace companies, namely the “Hyperbolic No. 1” rocket of Interstellar Glory and the “Suzaku No. 2” rocket of Blue Arrow Aerospace. China will send a total of 225 tons of payload into space in 2022, accounting for about 21% of the world’s total weight of orbital payloads.
Russia has carried out a total of 22 launch missions in 2022, ranking third in the world. The number of launches accounts for 11.8% of the total global annual launches, and the total weight of launched loads accounts for about 21% of the world. Although Russia’s total number of launches in 2022 is not as high as that of the United States and China, its launch success rate is 100%.
As for the European Union, India, Iran, South Korea, and Japan, their 2022 launches are 5, 5, 1, 1, and 1, respectively. Together, these countries have launched 13 times, accounting for only 7% of the total number of global launches in 2022. Among them, the European Union and India failed once each, and Japan’s only launch mission in 2022 also ended in failure.
In the last century, there were only two super aerospace players in the world, the United States and the Soviet Union. The cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union in the aerospace field created many world miracles and greatly promoted the development of aerospace technology.
After the end of the Cold War, Russia inherited the mantle of the Soviet Union, and China rushed to catch up. China, the United States and Russia became the three major aerospace powers recognized in the world at the beginning of the 21st century, and their aerospace level far surpassed other countries.
However, judging from the global space launch data in recent years, the current world space industry has gradually shown a pattern of “two superpowers and one strong”. As for the space level of other countries, it is not enough at present.
The two countries with the strongest aerospace capabilities are the United States and China. In recent years, the United States has relied on private aerospace companies led by SpaceX to prop up the facade, and the overall level of aerospace technology is still far ahead of other countries. China built its own space station in 2022, and 2022 has become an important milestone in China’s aerospace development. At present, there are only the International Space Station and my country’s Tiangong Space Station in space. China’s aerospace strength is currently second only to the United States.
If the world’s major aerospace players are divided according to the level of aerospace, although Russia’s aerospace strength can still be tied with the United States and China in the first echelon in the world, far exceeding the latter aerospace players, but because Russia’s economic aggregate is far behind China and the United States, this As a result, Russia has not made large-scale investment in the aerospace field in recent years, mainly relying on the old capital of the Soviet Union. These years have basically not made much progress. The current aerospace strength has gradually widened the gap with China and the United States. The pace of development of China and the United States has gradually changed from the former “three powers competing for hegemony” to “two superpowers and one strong”.
As we all know, if you want to play aerospace, you need not only high-tech, but also money economically, because aerospace is too expensive. China and the United States can become the two super players in the aerospace field, not only because they are ahead of other countries in technology, but also because the economic aggregates of China and the United States are far ahead in the world, and the budget that can be invested in the aerospace field is also higher than other countries. There are many more countries.
The number of global space launches in 2023 is estimated to hit a new high, and the United States will still rank first, because SpaceX is expected to complete 100 launch missions in 2023 to build the next-generation Starlink system. According to this development, it is expected that the difference in the number of space launches between China and the United States will continue to widen in 2023.
