Home
.
These two graphs show the number of military and civilian spacecrafts launched each year, from 1957 to 2011 (above), and the percentage of military vs. civilian spacecrafs for each year (below). They show that a majority of military spacecrafts were launched during the 1960s to 1980s, but that trend diminished from the 1990s. Today, two-thirds of spacecrafts launched are civilian in nature.
.
First Decade
1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 Total
Civilian 3 21 14 22 26 32 20 42 54 55 289
Military 0 7 10 22 34 64 77 85 126 119 544
Total: 3 28 24 44 60 96 97 127 180 174 833
Civilian ratio 100% 75 %  58 % 50 % 43 % 33 % 21 % 33 % 30 % 32 % 34.7%

Second Decade

1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Total
Civilian 55 50 58 49 50 45 41 43 61 34 486
Military 117 116 97 93 125 98 105 93 107 130 1080
Total: 172 166 155 142 175 143 146 136 168 164 1566
Civilian ratio 32 % 30 % 37 % 35 % 29 % 31 % 28 % 32 % 36 % 21 % 31.1%

Third Decade

1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Total
Civilian 38 60 45 42 61 47 60 64 63 43 523
Military 109 114 89 102 99 113 102 105 109 108 1050
Total: 147 174 134 144 160 160 162 169 172 151 1573
Civilian ratio 26 % 34 % 34 % 29 % 38 % 29 % 37 % 38 % 37 % 28 % 33.3%

Fourth Decade

1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Total
Civilian 38 62 56 74 59 66 59 64 70 83 631
Military 103 93 83 99 84 69 59 66 43 29 729
Total: 141 155 139 173 143 135 118 130 113 112 1360
Civilian ratio 27 % 40 % 40 % 43 % 41 % 49 % 50 % 49 % 61 % 74 %  46.4%

Fifth Decade

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total
Civilian 133 146 117 92 67 86 68 51 62 87 910
Military 25 28 16 39 26 15 30 26 16 29 249
Total: 158 174 133 131 93 101 98 77 78 116 1159
Civilian ratio 84 % 84 % 88 % 71 % 72 % 85 % 69 % 66 % 79 % 75 % 78.5%

Sixth Decade

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total
Civilian 84 84 93 80 96 97 150 >> 684
Military 39 27 36 49 41 41 64 >> 297
Total: 123 111 129 129 137 138 214 >> 981
Civilian ratio 68 % 76 % 84 % 62 % 70 % 70 % 70 % % % % 70 %
Souce: © Claude Lafleur's Spacecraft Encyclopedia, 2005-2014
.
Previous Table List of Tables Next Table
.
© Claude Lafleur, 2004-10 Mes sites web: claudelafleur.qc.ca