As July turns into August, launch activity will pick up after Falcon 9’s return to flight. Besides the Falcon 9, ULA’s Atlas V and Rocket Lab’s Electron were also being prepared to fly missions to orbit. The USSF-51 flight from Florida was followed by a Chang Zheng-3B/E from China and the Starlink 10-6 flight. CRS NG-21 launched aboard a Falcon 9 from Florida, while Starlink 11-1 has flown from Vandenberg, and the “Owl for One, One for Owl” flight from New Zealand has flown before those missions.
After just six flights in July due to the Starlink 9-3 failure, SpaceX hopes to return to its industry-leading flight cadence with two flights in the first three days of August. Although its goal of 148 flights in 2024 might be out of reach, requiring 15 launches per month for the rest of the year, the company still expects to beat 2023’s record of flights handily, while Electron is approaching double-digit flights this year itself.