2021 May Be Busy with 50+ Forecasted Launches
January 14, 2021 – Expect more low rumbles and high plumes marking the trail to space this year.
“We have 53 launches in our forecast with one already on the books,” said Col. Brande Walton, vice commander of the 45th Space Wing. She was addressing the National Space Club of Florida during an online event. SpaceX got the ball rolling with a Falcon 9 launch of a Turkish communications satellite on Jan 7. And three of this year’s launches will continue to be crewed by astronauts, with two launches by SpaceX and one by Boeing.
Vulcan Centaur, United Launch Alliance’s next-generation American rocket, lifts off in this artist’s rendering. (Credit: ULA)
If the pace of launches meets this schedule, it will easily eclipse the number of launches in 2020, when 31 launches roared to life on the Space Coast.
The crew from SpaceX Crew-1 mission. (Credit: NASA)
The launches are planned to include batches of Starlink intenet satellites by SpaceX and the introduction of a new vehicle, the Vulcan Centaur from United Launch Alliance, slated to make its first flight late this year.
Source: Space News