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US Manned Space Launch Statistics (1961-2022) |
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US Manned Space Launch Statistics (1961-2022) |
[1] STS-135 NASA Press Kit
[2] STS-135 “Mission of Space
Shuttle Atlantis by the Numbers” NASA Web Page (LINK)
[3] Back of envelope calculation using a mass of 240,000~ lbm for the Orbiter+Payload following a 140~ second OMS-2 burn consuming approx 11.93 lb/oxidizer and 7.23 lb/fuel per second per OMS engine, for a total of 5,000 lbf of propellant consumed
[4] SP-2000-4029 Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference (LINK)
1961: 2 x Mercury-Redstone (MR-3, 4)
1962: 3 x Mercury-Atlas
(MA-6, 7, 8)
1963: 1 x Mercury-Atlas (MA-9)
1964: 0
– Mercury-Gemini Interregnum
1965: 5 x Gemini
(Gemini 3, 4, 5, 7, 6)
1966: 5 x Gemini (Gemini 8, 9, 10, 11,
12)
1967: 0 – Post-Gemini
Interregnum
1968: 2 x
Apollo (Apollo 7, 8)
1969: 4 x Apollo (Apollo 9, 10, 11, 12)
1970:
1 x Apollo (Apollo 13)
1971: 2 x Apollo (Apollo 14, 15)
1972: 2
x Apollo (Apollo 16, 17)
1973: 3 x Apollo-Skylab (SL-2, SL-3,
SL-4)
1974 0 – Apollo-Shuttle
Interregnum.
1975: 1 x
Apollo-Soyuz (ASTP)
1976 0 –
Apollo-Shuttle
Interregnum.
1977 0
– Apollo-Shuttle
Interregnum.
1978 0
– Apollo-Shuttle
Interregnum.
1979 0
– Apollo-Shuttle
Interregnum.
1980: 0
– Apollo-Shuttle
Interregnum.
1981: 2 x
Space Shuttle (STS-1,2)
1982: 3 x Space Shuttle (STS-3, 4,
5)
1983: 4 x Space Shuttle (STS-6, 8, 8, 9)
1984: 5 x Space
Shuttle (STS-41B, 41C, 41D, 41G, 51A)
1985: 9 x Space Shuttle
(STS-51C, 51D, 51B, 51G, 51F, 51I, 51J, 61A, 61B)
1986: 2 x Space
Shuttle (STS-61C, 51L)
1987: 0 –
Post-Challenger
Stand-Down
1988: 2 x
Space Shuttle (STS-26, 27)
1989: 5 x Space Shuttle (STS-29, 30,
28, 34, 33)
1990: 6 x Space Shuttle (STS-32, 36, 31, 41, 38,
35)
1991: 6 x Space Shuttle (STS-37, 39, 40, 43, 48, 44)
1992:
8 x Space Shuttle (STS-42, 45, 49, 50, 46, 47, 52, 53)
1993: 7 x
Space Shuttle (STS-54, 66, 55, 57, 51, 58, 61)
1994: 7 x Space
Shuttle (STS-60, 62, 59, 65, 64, 68, 66)
1995: 7 x Space Shuttle
(STS-63, 67, 71, 70, 69, 73, 74)
1996: 7 x Space Shuttle (STS-72,
75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
1997: 8 x Space Shuttle (STS-81, 82, 83,
84, 94, 85, 86, 87)
1998: 5 x Space Shuttle (STS-89, 90, 91, 95,
88)
1999: 3 x Space Shuttle (STS-96, 93, 103)
2000: 5 x Space
Shuttle (STS-99, 101, 106, 92, 97)
2001: 6 x Space Shuttle
(STS-98, 102, 100, 104, 105, 108)
2002: 5 x Space Shuttle
(STS-109, 110, 111, 112, 113)
2003: 1 x Space Shuttle
(STS-107)
2004: 3 x SpaceShip One (15P, 16P, 17P) (also
Post-Columbia
Stand-Down for Orbital
Spaceflight)
2005: 1 x Space Shuttle (STS-114)
2006:
3 x Space Shuttle (STS-121, 115, 116)
2007: 3 x Space Shuttle
(STS-117, 118, 120)
2008: 4 x Space Shuttle (STS-122, 123, 124,
126),
2009: 5 x Space Shuttle (STS-119, 125, 127, 128, 129)
2010:
3 x Space Shuttle (STS-130, 131, 132)
2011: 3 x Space Shuttle
(STS-133, 134, 135)
2012-2020
– Post Space Shuttle Interregnum
2020:
2 x Dragon 2 (Demo-2, Crew-1)
2021: 3 x Dragon 2 (Crew-2,
Inspiration4, Crew-3)
3
x New Shepard (NS4.3, NS4.4, NS4.5)
2022: 3 x Dragon 2 (Axiom-1,
Crew-4, Crew 5)
3
x New Shepard (NS4.6, NS4.7, NS4.8)
NOTE: All operational SpaceShip Two flights have only reached a maximum of 89.2 km; well below the Karman Line (100 km), while SpaceShip One's 15P, 16P, and 17P flights were all above 100 km.
Average Mercury Launches Per Year (1961-1963): 2
Crew:
6, of which 6 were individuals
Approximate Mercury Mass in
Orbit (1961-63): 12,000~ lbs (5.44 metric tons)
Average Gemini Launches Per Year (1965-1966): 5
Crew:
20, of which 16 were individuals
Approximate Gemini Mass in
Orbit (1965-1966): 84,900 lbs (38.5 metric tons)
Average Apollo Launches Per Year (1968-1973): 2.33
Crew:
45, of which 38 were individuals
Approximate Saturn V Mass
in Orbit (1968-1972): 3~ million pounds (1,360.7 metric tons)
(S-IVB+IU+SLA+LEM+CSM) [4]
Approximate Saturn V Payload to TLI
(1968-1972): 876,000~ pounds (397.34 metric tons) (LEM+CSM) [4]
Average STS Launches Per Year (1981-2011): 4.35 (incl.
stand down years)
Average STS Launches Per Year (1981-1985):
4.6
Average STS Launches Per Year (1988-2002): 5.8
Crew:
847, of which 355 were individuals.
Approximate STS Total Mass
in Orbit (1981-2011): 32.1~ million pounds (14,560 metric tons)
[3]
Approximate STS Payload Mass in Orbit (1981-2011): 3.5~
million pounds (1,587.5 metric tons) [1] [2]
Average Dragon 2 Launches Per Year (2020-2022): 2.66
Crew:
30, of which 30 are individuals.
Approximate Dragon 2 Total
Mass in Orbit (2020-2022): 220,800 pounds (100.15 metric
tons)
Approximate Dragon 2 Payload Mass in Orbit (2020-2022):
57,600 pounds (26.12 metric tons)
NOTE: I'm using 27,600 lb as Dragon In-Orbit Mass and 7,200 lb payload for these approximations.
