Quick 2024 Space Update

The reusable revolution; Starlink continues to lead the way.

In 2024, SpaceX captured the world’s imagination when it “caught” one of its own Starship rocket boosters falling back to Earth. It was the next step toward fully reusable vehicles, radically reduced launch costs, and a revolution the economics of space.

You can see this revolution taking shape in the number of satellites launched in recent years. For six decades after the the Soviets put Sputnik into orbit in 1957, the world launched around 100-200 satellites per year. In the last half decade, however, that annual number has grown more than 10x.

Over the last six years, SpaceX launched 7,632 satellites in its Starlink constellation, which delivers wireless Internet service nearly worldwide. In 2024 alone, SpaceX deployed 1,982 new Starlink sats. Overall, 6,868 are still in service, delivering Internet access in some 105 countries.