SpaceX has completed a record 61 orbital missions this year (with a 100 percent success rate) – almost double the number of launches in 2021. And already at the beginning of 2023, SpaceX may set another record, but of a different kind.

SpaceX announced that the Falcon 9 rocket will launch on January 3 with 114 spacecraft on board. If they are all successfully launched into orbit, this launch will be a record. This year’s record for the number of simultaneously launched satellites belongs to India: On February 15, 2017, the PLSV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket sent 104 spacecraft into orbit. However, 103 of them were nano-satellites (that is, weighing between 1 and 10 kg). SpaceX plans to launch picosatellites (masses of 0.1 to 1 kg), cube satellites (masses of about 1 kg), and microsatellites (masses of 10 to 100 kg).