Home 2008 in Review 2010 in Review
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Overview
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Spacecraft Launched

How many spacecrafts 
were launched?

In 2009, 129 spacecrafts were launched, 18 more than the previous year, and 23 more than the last ten years average.
 
. Year 
2009		 Pre-
vious		 Last
Ten
Total 129 +18 +23
. . . .
Civilian 93 +9 +13
Military 36 +9 +10


This graph shows that only 78 spacecrafts were launched In 2005, compared to 129 in 2009.
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Spacecraft's Nationality

For whom these space-
crafts were launched?

. Year
2009		 Pre-
vious		 Last 
Ten
Russian 29 +8 +7
American 28 13 +5
European 17 6 6
Japanese 6 3 1½
Chinese 5 -9 -2½
Indian 3 -1 0.5
Canadian 2 -1 0.7
Israelian 0 -2 0.7
Other Gov. 9 1 2
Commercial 17 -6 -4½
Amateur 13 6 7½
....
This graph shows that half of the spacecrafts launched during 2009 were sponsored by Russia and United States or were built by amateur and student.
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Failures

How many failure had
occured during the year?

• 2 launches failed 
• 2 satellites were lost

In 2009, two rockets failed, a U.S.’s Taurus and the first South Korea’s KSLV-1 rocket. These launch failures resulted in two satellite losses. (There is also the North Korea’s Unha-2 missile failure, which isn’t counted as a satellite launch.)
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Missions
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Civilian Spacecrafts

For what purpose 93 civilian spacecrafts were launched?

. Number Percent
Exploration: . .
• Piloted Flight 16 11.6%
• Sciences 7 5.4%
• Biology 0 0
• Planetary 4 3.1%
• Astronomy 2 1.6%
Applications: . .
• Communications 24 18.6%
• Meteorology 3 2.3%
• Remote Sensing 7 5.4%
• Material Proc. 0 0
R & D: . .
• Amateur 13 10.1%
• Technology 18 14.0%
. . .
Total 93  72.1%
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Military Satellites

For what purpose 36 military satellites were launched?

. Number Percent
Applications: . .
• Surveillance 8 6.2%
• Early Warning 0  0
• Electronic Int. 2 1.6%
• Nuclear Mon. 0  0
• Ocean Survey 0  0
Services: . .
• Communications 10 7.8%
• Navigation 7 5.4%
• Radar Calib. 0 0
• Meteorology 1 0.8%
R & D: . .
• Space Defense 3 2.3%
• Antisatellite 0 0
• Piloted Flight 0  0
• Sci. & Tech. 5  3.9%
. . .
Total 36 27.9%
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Spacecraft Categories

To which categories are 
related these spacecrafts?

. Year
2009		 Pre-
vious		 Laet
Ten
Civilian: . . .
• Exploration 28 +2 +6
• Applications 34 -7 -7
• R & D 31 +14 +14
. . . .
Military: . . .
• Applications 10 -3 =
• Services 18 +7 +7
• R & D 8 +5 +3
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This graph shows that three-quarter of the 129 spacecrafts launched in 2009 were of civilian nature.
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Launch
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Rockets Launched

How many rockets
were launched?

. Number Percent
Russian 33 42.9%
American 24 31.2%
European 7 9.1%
Japanese 3 3.9%
Chinese 6 7.8%
Indian 2 2.6%
Other 2 2.6%
. . .
Total 77 100%


This graph shows that only 55 rockets were launched In 2005, compared to 77 in 2009.

Launch Evolution
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How many rockets were launched compared to previous years?
.
. Num-
ber		 Pre-
vious		 Last 
Ten
Russian 33 +1 +4
American 24 +9 +4
European 7 +1 =
Japanese 3 +2 +1
Chinese 6 -5 =
Indian 2 -1 +½
Other 2 2 +1½
. . . .
Total 77 +9 +11
Explanation: “In 2009, Russia launched 33 rockets, 1 more than the previous year, and 4 more than the last ten years average.”
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Satellite launched by

Which countries laun-
ched these spacecrafts?

. Number Percent
Russia 52 40.3%
U.S.A. 35 27.1%
Europe 14 10.9%
Japan 10 7.8%
Chinese 7 5.4%
India 9 7.0%
Other 2 1.6%
. . .
Total 129 100%
Explanation: “In 2009, Russia launched 52 of the 129 spacecrafts, or 40%, launched during the year."
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This graph shows that 40% of all spacecrafts launched during 2009 were made by Russian rockets.
© Claude Lafleur, Spacecraft Encyclopedia, 2010
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© Claude Lafleur, 2004-10 Mes sites web: claudelafleur.qc.ca