SpaceX has secured a commanding lead in the global space launch industry for several years, propelled by its reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets that have drastically lowered launch costs. Barring a major technological breakthrough by a government-backed or deep-pocketed private rival, Elon Musk's rocket empire is poised to maintain dominance well into 2030—and possibly beyond.
New data from analytics and engineering firm BryceTech for 1Q25 illustrates the scale of SpaceX's dominance in the global orbital space launch race, surpassing not only domestic rivals but also major spacefaring nations like China and Russia.
In Q1, SpaceX led all rocket launches with 36 missions, followed by China with 12, 5 with US-based Rocket Lab, and Russia with 4.
In terms of satellite deployments, SpaceX dominated the quarter with 900, followed by China with 58 and Rocket Lab with 20. The majority of SpaceX's payloads were Starlink internet satellites.
SpaceX's ability to drive down launch costs has led it to become the leader in all upmass carried to space for the quarter.
SpaceX powers much of America's rocket program. Without Musk's company in the equation, the data clearly shows that China would be leading the space race.
Credit where it's due—SpaceX is keeping the U.S. ahead of Chinese Communist rivals in the space domain amid a military and AI race.
Starship’s ninth flight test marked a major milestone for reuse with the first flight-proven Super Heavy booster launching from Starbase, and once more returned Starship to space → https://t.co/Gufroc2kUz pic.twitter.com/RNJkj5OobP
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 28, 2025
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