Government Launches Carry U.S. Industry in 2001
By: Jason Bates
The number of commercial launches performed by U.S.-based launch
vehicles declined for the fourth straight year in 2001, but a steady
supply of missions for the U.S. government kept the American fleet
active over that period.
Worldwide, the total number of orbital launches conducted in 2001 was
59, falling from 86 in 2000 and 78 in 1999.
“Last year was not good, but depending on your point of view, it’s not
that bad,” said Mike Snow, an associate with DFI International, a
defense consulting firm, here. “It’s sort of a return to normalcy” in
the number of launches.
The higher numbers of launches in recent years, both commercial and
total missions, were tied to the deployment cycles of low Earth orbit
constellations, which peaked in that period, Snow said. A return to an
average amount of commercial launches would look poor when compared to
those years, he said. The worldwide average is about 30 commercial
launches per year.
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