55 Space Exploration Statistics

Keeping track of human progress in space technology.

In order to benchmark human progress in space technology, we keep track of statistics related to spaceflight.

The 2021 spaceflight statistics include economic, satellite, commercial, NASA and government, as well as the International Space Station metrics.

The list is broken down between all-time human spaceflight statistics and those of the most recent calendar year.

What happened in space this past year?

112 total launch attempts this year
- 102 successful launches
- 10 failed launches
7 countries / regions launched rockets this year:
- United States (44)
- China (38)
- Europe (5)
- India (2)
- Japan (4)
- Israel (1)
- Russia (16)
- Iran (2)
61 successful launches to low earth orbit
There have been 561 satellites launched into orbit. (as of July 2020 – we’re trying to get the updated numbers ASAP.) [7]
SpaceX Starlink accounted for over 412 of those satellites – dominating the market with 74%. [7]
21 unique global spaceports that have been used this year.
Low-earth orbit was the most common destination, with 80 launches set for LEO.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon became the first commercially-built space vehicle to carry humans into space, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

SolO: sun observing satellite launched February 10, 2020 by European Space Agency
Mars Hope: Mars orbiting satellite launched July 19, 2020 by United Arab Emirates
Tianwen-1: Mars orbiter, lander, and rover launched July 23, 2020 by China
Mars 2020: Mars Perseverance rover launched July 30, 2020 by USA
Chang’e 5: Lunar Sample return launched November 23, 2020 by China

Two Space Stations: There are two working space stations in which humans can survive: the International Space Station (ISS) and the Tiangong 2.
There are over 200 organizations that provide products and services to the space industry.
Humans have discovered more than 4,324 exoplanets. [5]
Bruce McCandless II was the first person to perform an untethered spacewalk.

Payload Cost to Low Earth Orbit, varying by launch vehicle type [3]:
- Small-class: Chian Quxian launch vehicle: $17,300/kg and $5 million per launch
- Small-class: Electron launch vehicle: $23,100/kg and $5 amillion per launch
- Medium-class: LV3M launch vehicle: $8,000/kg and $63 million per launch
  - Atlas V 551: $5,685/kg
  - Falcon 9: $2,842/kg [9]
- Heavy-class: Falcon Heavy launch vehicle: $951-1500/kg and $95 million per launch
Revenue of the Global Space Industry: $423.8 billion USD. This is expected to increase by 50% by 2040.
Revenue of the Global Satellite Industry: $271 billion USD

Number of Satellites orbiting Earth: 2,787. [7]
There are over 3200 additional satellites that are unusable.
1,918 satellites in a Low Earth Orbit.
137 satellites in a Medium Earth Orbit
554 satellites in a Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit, also known as a geostationary orbit.
57 satellites in an Elliptical Orbit. [6]

NASA Budget $21.5 billion in 2019, which accounts for 0.4% of the entire US budget.
$60 billion is the cumulative budget of government space agencies world-wide (roughly).
Humans have been visiting space for 60 years. The first humans to travel into space did so in 1961.
There have been nine launch vehicle designs that have successfully gone to space. They are: Vostok, Mercury, Vokshod, Gemini, Soyuz, Apollo Lunar Module, Space Shuttle, Shenzhou, Crew Dragon.
The United States established the US Space Force.
Russians have spent the most time in space, with 28,945 total person days.
The United States has send the most individual people to space of any country, with 346 total people having visited outer space.

SpaceX Earth to Earth travel will enable point-to-point travel anywhere on Earth in under 1 hour.
The X3 ion thruster is currently the most robust and powerful ion thruster for deep space exploration, capable of producing over 5 N of force.
Between 1990 and 2017, there were 635 commercial space launches globally. [4]
Space Tourism: no one really knows what space tourism might cost. Virgin Galactic has tossed around a ticket price of $250,000, but also stated prices may be different. SpaceX’s first commercial passenger, Yusaku Maezawa, has purchased every seat on the first trip to the moon and back for an undisclosed amount.
SmallSat / Cubesat rideshare: SpaceX is offering dedicated rideshare missions starting around $1M, selling optional add-ons such as fuel and payload cargo insurance
There are a few ways that the average person can invest in space exploration: This post covers space stocks, ETFs, and more.

396 spaceflights have been launched to the International Space Station
241 individuals have visited the International Space Station throughout history.
Space Tourism: 8 people have visited the International Space Station as tourists, including 7 people from Russia, each of whom paid about 20 million per trip.
People from 19 different countries have gone to the space station.
The average crew size on the ISS is 6 people.
The space station orbits the Earth 16 times per day.
The surface area of all solar panels attached to the ISS covers more than 1 acre and is 240 feet wide.
The world record for total time in space is 878.5 days, set by Gennady Padalka of Russia across 5 flights.
The U.S. record has been set by Peggy Whitson, who spend 665 total days in space across 3 flights.
The space station has six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window
230 spacewalks have been conducted by astronauts at the space station for upgrades and maintenance.
Cumulative crew time on the International Space Station amounts to over 7,300 days.
The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000
It took 42 separate flights to send the cargo used to construct and build the ISS into space.
The electrical power systems onboard use 8 miles worth of wiring. [10]
The ISS has 8 ports where spaceships can dock.

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