Launches: successes vs failures by year
Orbital launch attempts 2006 → 2025, plus a dated milestone launch log.
About this data
SpaceX scaled from a handful of Falcon 1 attempts (with early failures) to well over 100 Falcon 9 flights per year, with booster reuse the key unlock. The success-vs-failure split shows reliability improving even as cadence exploded — the opposite of the usual volume-vs-quality trade-off.
Orbital launch attempts (Falcon 1 / Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy), 2006 → 2025.
View data & sources →Data table
| year | series | failure | success | source_ref | value_basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | launches_by_year | 1 | 0 | wikipedia-f9 | Falcon 1 Flight 1 failed, Mar 2006 |
| 2007 | launches_by_year | 1 | 0 | wikipedia-f9 | Falcon 1 Flight 2 failed to reach orbit, Mar 2007 |
| 2008 | launches_by_year | 1 | 1 | wikipedia-f9 | Flight 3 failed (Aug); Flight 4 first orbital success (Sep 28 2008) |
| 2009 | launches_by_year | 0 | 1 | wikipedia-f9 | Falcon 1 Flight 5 (RazakSAT) success, Jul 2009 |
| 2010 | launches_by_year | 0 | 2 | wikipedia-f9 | Falcon 9 maiden (Jun) + COTS Demo 1 (Dec) |
14 more rows + CSV download
The full 19-row dataset, one-click CSV export, and the AI-ready context file are free with an account. Prefer to verify it yourself? The full methodology and sources are published below.
Data table
| date | series | mission | outcome | vehicle | source_ref | value_basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-03-24 | launch_log | FalconSAT-2 (Flight 1) | Failure | Falcon 1 | wikipedia-f9 | First SpaceX orbital launch attempt — failed |
| 2008-09-28 | launch_log | Flight 4 (RatSat) | Success | Falcon 1 | wikipedia-f9 | First privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to orbit |
| 2010-06-04 | launch_log | Falcon 9 maiden flight | Success | Falcon 9 | wikipedia-f9 | First Falcon 9 launch |
| 2012-05-22 | launch_log | COTS Demo (Dragon to ISS) | Success | Falcon 9 | wikipedia-f9 | First commercial spacecraft to ISS |
| 2015-06-28 | launch_log | CRS-7 | Failure | Falcon 9 | wikipedia-f9 | In-flight breakup ~2m19s after liftoff |
7 more rows + CSV download
The full 12-row dataset, one-click CSV export, and the AI-ready context file are free with an account. Prefer to verify it yourself? The full methodology and sources are published below.
Methodology & sources
Last updated: Jul 17, 2026Methodology
Source-backed values are seeded for all six chart sections: the Starlink subscriber S-curve (2020 → Feb 2026), SpaceX valuation by year with Rocket Lab market cap as a public comparator, launch successes vs failures by year (2006 → 2025) plus a dated milestone launch log, Starlink satellites deployed per year, launch cost per kilogram by vehicle, and a Starlink coverage map. Every numeric point carries a sources[].ref it traces to, plus a value_basis naming the report passage or brief section. Primary public sources (FCC, FAA, SEC EDGAR) are cited where authoritative; secondary reporting (Sacra, CB Insights, Statista, Space.com, CompaniesMarketCap, Wikipedia launch lists) is named where it was the reachable source. ESTIMATE: the Starlink coverage map is a clearly-labeled estimate of a representative set of active markets (on-chart "Estimated" ribbon), not a definitive per-country status. Blue Origin is private with no public valuation and is deliberately omitted from the valuation comparator rather than invented. The 2026 ~$1.75T figure is the IPO target, not a closed round. Re-verified 2026-06-15.
Sources
- Space.com — SpaceX 167 orbital flights in 2025 ↗ Public report
Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.