By 2025, SpaceX is aiming to launch at a record pace: 170 orbital missions, nearly one every other day. Should we hit our goal, it would best the company’s annual record of 134 launches set in 2023. Anne Mason, SpaceX’s director of national security space launch, announced the ambitious goal during a media call on May 28. Mason emphasised the growing normalcy of this rapid cadence while previewing the upcoming GPS III SV08 satellite mission for the U.S. Space Force, currently slated for liftoff on Friday, May 30.
SpaceX’s Rocket Reusability Drives Surge to 170 Launches, Starlink Leads 2025 Campaign
As per a Space.com report, Mason noted that in 2020, SpaceX had launched just 25 times — a monthly average of two. The step to a flying cadence on at least a virtually daily basis emphasises the impact of operational efficiency and reusability of Falcon rockets. With the bigger and more powerful Falcon Heavy making the other two launches, the Falcon 9 executed 132 of 134 launches in 2023. Both rely on reusable first stages that have become central to SpaceX’s high-volume, low-cost access to orbit.
Mason pointed out that SpaceX currently produces an expendable Falcon upper stage every two and a half days, a crucial factor in sustaining high output. Roughly two-thirds of the company’s orbital flights in 2024 supported Starlink, its low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation, which now includes over 7,500 active spacecraft. This year, 48 of the 64 launches already completed — all via Falcon 9 — were Starlink deployments.
SpaceX will have to increase its daily launch rate from 0.43 to about 0.47 if it is to meet the 170-launch target. The number does not include suborbital Starship test flights, which are not regarded as orbital missions. The company has flown three such Starship tests in 2025 so far, with four conducted last year. Starship remains under development for long-term Mars colonisation goals and future deep space missions.
The continued growth of SpaceX’s launch rate reflects the company’s dominance in commercial and government spaceflight. Mason credited the milestone not only to technological advances but also to the team’s consistent performance. “This cadence was unimaginable five years ago,” she mentioned, “and yet, here we are.”
