Yesterday SpaceX launched 23 new Starlink Internet satellites into orbit
SpaceX's latest launch of Starlink Internet satellites from Cape Canaveral in Florida marked the first time humans have launched 200 launch vehicles into orbit from Earth in a single calendar year.
The launch took place on December 19, 2023, at 07:01 Moscow time. Jonathan McDowell — drew attention to the new record in the global space industry. astronomer and astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. McDowell diligently tracks and records every rocket launched on the planet. After Tuesday's Falcon 9 launch, he shared his joy on social media:
With the launch of the second stage F9 into a low reference orbit, the launch will receive the international designation 2023-200, for the first time in a year the number of orbital launches has reached 200.
Low reference orbit — this is the intermediate orbit in which the rocket waits before entering its final trajectory.
SpaceX expects to conduct five more launches before the end of 2023. Now the number of launches of operational SpaceX rockets in 2023 is 92. Combined with two test launches of Starship the total number of launches by the end of the year could reach 99.