In late December, SpaceX ended an 11-day hiatus from launches on December 18 thanks to the successful Starlink mission, but the pause likely means the company will fall short of its goal of launching 100 Falcons this year. Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 49 at the Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:01 p.m. East. The rocket placed its payload of 23 Starlink “v2 mini” satellites into orbit just over an hour later.

The launch was SpaceX’s first since its Falcon 9 launched another set of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on December 8. The almost 11-day gap between launches was the company’s longest gap this year. SpaceX had an average of four days between launches in 2023.

Several factors contributed to the gap in launches. Bad weather in Florida delayed the final Starlink launch last week. The launch of the Falcon Heavy, the Space Force’s . with a rocket

SpaceX had planned to launch Falcon 9 from Vandenberg with Starlink satellites on December 14, then postponed it by one day to December 28. SpaceX did not explain the reason for the long delay, but it is believed to rule out the possibility of launching the German SARah 2 and 3 radar imaging satellites as early as December 21.

A combination of factors means SpaceX will likely fall short of the goal of 100 Falcon launches it set earlier this year. This year, the company has completed 92 launches, including 88 Falcon 9 and 4 Falcon Heavy. In addition to the X-37B, Starlink and SARah launches, SpaceX is expected to conduct another Starlink launch from Florida and launch the Ovzon-3 communications satellite. All these launches will bring SpaceX’s total number this year to 97.

Even before the recent breakup, a SpaceX executive said reaching 100 would be difficult. “100 is a lot, but it will require excellent execution, a relentless focus on safety and reliability, and some luck with the weather!” Kiko Donchev, vice president of launch, said in a social media post on December 4.

Although it fell short of the target, the company’s launch speed is a significant achievement compared to both its past performance and its global competitors. SpaceX’s launch numbers are up more than 50% from 2022 and triple from 2021.

SpaceX has completed nearly half of its 209 orbital launch attempts in 2023, with 200 of them successful. (These figures do not include two Starship launches in April and November, which would not have reached orbit even if fully successful.) SpaceX has completed nine times as many launches as the second largest among American companies this year. Rocket Lab recently launched its tenth Electron rocket in 2023.

SpaceX plans to continue increasing the frequency of launches through 2024. Bill Gerstenmeier, SpaceX’s vice president of flight development and reliability, told the Senate Space Subcommittee on Oct. 18 that the company plans to conduct 144 launches in 2024 (12 per month).