It's almost a cliche that every launch sets some sort of record. The one SpaceX announced earlier in the week will probably stand for another 10 or 11 months until they break it.
SpaceX shattered their launch record in '25 with 165 launches which works out to one every 3.1 days. These were orbital launches using only the Falcon 9. They also have five sub-orbital test flights of Starship. In case you don't watch them closely, they've set a new record every year for six years.
The record has risen from 25 orbital liftoffs in 2020 to 31 (2021) to 61 (2022) to 96 (2023) to 134 (2024) and, now, to a whopping 165.
Here near the Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center complex, for most of the year they launched close to every other day, while Vandenberg was more like once/week. As work proceeds on the launch pad they're renovating at Vandenberg, there will be the potential for two to three launches/week on both coasts. They already launch more orbital launches than every other launch provider including other nations.
Indeed, SpaceX launched nearly twice as many orbital missions as China did this year, and the company's 2025 output represented about 85% of the United States' total tally.
Strangely, of the 165 launches, they didn't successfully recover three boosters. The first two were expected because the customer's requirements determined they couldn't recover them. Only the last one wasn't recovered because of an issue in the Falcon 9.
Two of the exceptions were launches in January and October that sent massive Spainsat NG communications satellites to geostationary transfer orbit. These were heavy lifts for the Falcon 9 first stage, which didn't have enough fuel left over for a return to Earth.
The other non-landing was a failed attempt, suffered during the launch of a batch of Starlink internet satellites on March 3. The booster actually touched down successfully on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean as planned that day, but it tipped over after a fire broke out near its base and damaged a landing leg.
All told it was good year for SpaceX. In terms of other milestones, they pulled off their 500th rocket landing and 500th launch of a used rocket in 2025. They repeatedly extended the record for most launches by a single Falcon 9 booster, which currently stands at 32. Starlink's global network has been assembled largely by reusing Falcon 9 boosters. This year, Starlink launches made up 123 of the 165 Falcon 9 launches. Those 123 missions lifted more than 3,000 satellites for the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 9,300 active spacecraft.
The second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching 29 Starlink satellites
into orbit from Florida on Dec. 17, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)
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