The week of July 16 through July 23 saw four more launches take place around the world, potentially increasing the orbital launch count to 108 so far in 2023. This included Rocket Lab’s launch of the “Baby Come Back” mission (which featured a first stage recovery attempt), two more SpaceX Starlink v2 missions, and the launch of a Chinese Kuaizhou 1A rocket with an as-yet-unknown payload.
The global launch cadence is such that if the current pace is maintained, the year will come to a close with up to 195 orbital flights completed — the most in history.