After last year's inaugural rankings, ARS Technica has once again released a list of the best of the best commercial launch companies in the United States. We hope that this list will spark debate, discussion, and appreciation for the challenges of running a successful rocket company.
Note that this is a subjective list, although hard metrics such as total launches, tonnage to orbit, success rate, etc., are all important factors in the decision. Our focus remains on what each company has achieved in 2023, not what they might do in the future. Of course, there will be more restructuring next year.
1.SpaceX (no change).
Only one rocket company has made an incredible 100 launches this year. Only one company reuses more than 90% of the rockets launched in 2023. Only one company put 1 million kilograms of cargo into orbit. Only one company has launched the largest and most powerful rocket ever (privately developed) – Starship. Just a few months later, it was sent again on a largely successful flight.
Which feat is the most impressive?Is this an unprecedented rhythm?Launching nearly two rockets a week is incredible, a testament to the hard work the SpaceX team is doing in California, Texas, and Florida. But after the first attempt to sandblast the launch pad, getting Starship to fly twice in just seven months is just as impressive. SpaceX is the most elite launch company in the world, and it is not close.
Here's a statistic for you, provided by readers. In total, SpaceX has consumed a total of six Falcon cores (four heavy centers and two side boosters) in more than 90 launches this year. The United Launch Alliance, its one-time main competitor, spent five out of a total of three launches.
2.Rocket Lab (+1).
Rocket Lab rose to second place due to this year's execution. The company set a new record in a calendar year (10). Rocket Lab has a number of other notable firsts, including the opening of the first U.S. launch site on Volops Island, Virginia, the launch of the first hypersonic mission HASTE, and the first re-piloting of a Rutherford rocket engine as part of its efforts to reuse the first stage of electronics.
Rocket Lab also continues to work on neutron vehicles, although the medium-sized lift launcher may not debut until at least 2025.
Of course, it wasn't a perfect year. Notably, the company's ninth launch attempt of the year – a dedicated mission to Capella Space – was lost due to an anomaly after the separation of the second phase. It was the company's fourth failure in 40 orbital launches. While not a bad record, it's not a great record either.
3.United Launch Alliance (-1).
I believe this is the most controversial option on the list. The United Launch Alliance has been a leading player in the U.S. launch industry since its inception in 2006, and it has safely launched more than 150 missions into orbit, including some of NASA's and Department of Defense's most critical satellites and robotic spacecraft.
But this list is not based on past achievements, but on the old principle: "What have you done for me lately?"."In 2023, the United Launch Alliance will launch only three rockets – two Atlas V boosters and one Delta IV He**Y. While these three rockets carry much more payload than all of Rocket Lab's electrons, it is difficult to pass the four-month launch cadence.
If Vulcan had debuted in 2023, the company could have maintained its second place. At the beginning of the year, this large and highly anticipated booster will take to the skies for the first time in May. However, after going through a few issues – most notably the Centauri V Upper Stage** in testing this spring – the rocket will launch no earlier than January 8, 2024. Hopefully something better will happen next year.
4.Firefly (+2).
It's been a great year for Firefly Aerospace, which seems to have found a solid footing under the ownership of AE Industrial Partners. As of January, fireflies will be around for a full decade under various owners and management. But in all these turbulent times, it seems that a fairly competent space company has emerged.
In September, the first fully successful launch of the Alpha rocket was carried out for the U.S. Space Systems Command with a rapid response launch for the "Victus Nox" mission. The payload was consolidated and launched within 27 hours of receipt of the launch order. Alpha is likely to launch a satellite for Lockheed Martin for the second time this year, Wednesday, Dec. 20. Next year, the company may launch three to five times, which will be impressive.
However, Firefly is more than just a launch company. Its line of business includes its Blue Ghost lander, a space vehicle called Elytra that could make its first flight in 2024, and a partnership with Northrop Grumman to build a larger Miranda engine for a medium-sized launch vehicle.
5.Northrop Grumman (-1).
The mega-contractor has only launched one rocket in 2023 – its last Antares 230+ vehicle was in August. The rocket, which uses both Russian and Ukrainian components, had to be abandoned after Russia's invasion of Ukraine cut off access to the launch vehicle.
Since it does not currently have the capability to launch on its own, we could see two launches of Northrop's Cygnus spacecraft in 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket, which carries supplies to the International Space Station. So, it doesn't look good.
However, there is some hope for the future. The company is developing the Antares 330 rocket, which will have a new first stage with seven Firefly Miranda engines using kerosene and liquid oxygen. The company is also working with Firefly to develop a more capable "medium launch vehicle" that will have the same first stage, but with a liquid-fuel upper stage with a single Miranda engine.
6.Blue Origin (+1).
With New Shepard's return mission on December 19, Blue Origin has finally launched a rocket in 2023 – albeit a suborbital one. That doesn't sound like much, but in other important ways, the company had a productive year.
On top of that, it pushed forward with "subtractive addition" when founder Jeff Bezos finally fired underperforming CEO Bob Smith in September. Instead, Bezos appointed Dave Linmp, Amazon's trusted executive, who Bezos was counting on to make Blue Origin move faster. The company also succeeded in finalizing the delivery of a flyable Be-4 rocket engine for the Vulcan rocket to the United Launch Alliance. These should take place in January for the first large-scale flight tests.
Finally, the long-awaited New Glenn rocket showed signs of life. Bezos said earlier this month that I am very optimistic that the first launch of New Glenn will be in 2024. This is consistent with signs of hardware development at the company's plant in Florida and at the launch site that has been completed there. Is New Glenn really coming in 2024?I'm not sure, but this is probably the last time Blue Origin was outside the top five of the list.
7.Relativistic space (+1).
Relativity Space launched its first rocket in March, and the Terran 1 vehicle has nominal first-stage performance. However, at 2 minutes and 48 seconds into flight – two seconds after the ignition of the second-stage AEON engine – the engine did not reach full thrust. This ultimately led to a failed launch, but for the first attempt by a company, the performance of the rocket was impressive.
A month after the launch, Relativity CEO Tim Ellis announced that the company was moving away from the Terran 1 to focus on larger Terran R vehicles. It is worth noting that the company also moved away from the method of additive manufacturing of the entire Terran R rocket. Ellis said that the Terran R will still be a "3D printed rocket", but the initial version will (at least) use an aluminum alloy straight-section barrel.
With all this, the theory of relativity is essentially talking about building a larger version of the Falcon 9 rocket (with a payload capacity of 33 in the advertisement).5Mt to reach LEO) and is scheduled to debut in 2026. It's been a pretty tough pivot, but recently the company has had some success with AEON R engine development. The next three years will be technically and financially challenging. However, if the theory of relativity can appear on a launch pad with a functional Terran R, it will cause a stir in the market.
8.ABL Space (+1).
This is the close connection between the theory of relativity and the ABL, which is seventh on this list. However, the nod is relativistic, as the Terran 1 flew farther than ABL's RS1 rocket on its first flight.
The small lift RS1 rocket was launched in January, but its flight ended a few seconds after the main engine was cut off. This caused the vehicle to crash back into the launch pad in Alaska. An investigation revealed that a fire at the rear end of the RS1 booster burned the wiring harness, causing the rocket to lose power and shut down the engine. Harry O, CEO of ABL Space'After the flight, Hanley said that all modern new launch vehicles of the new company failed on the first flight. Even so, the results were hurtful.
October, o'Hanley said the company does not expect to be absent throughout 2023, but added that multiple upgrades have been made to the launch equipment, as well as phases one and two. Most of the equipment has already been shipped to Alaska for launch, and presumably we could have a second launch in the first half of 2024. Good luck!
9.Stoke Space (NR).
Stoke Space has not yet launched a rocket, but the company is making significant progress in developing a fully reusable small launch vehicle. In September, the company took the most prominent step, "jumping" the prototype of the second stage in Washington. The tests successfully demonstrated the performance of the company's oxygen-hydrogen engine, which is based on 30 thruster rings;throttling capacity of this engine and its thrust vectoring control system;and avionics, software, and ground systems for vehicles.
The company is an interesting one because, at the end of 2020, it consisted only of Andy Lapsa and his co-founder, Tom Feldman. They were all Blue Origin propulsion engineers and decided the company wasn't moving fast enough. Over the past three years, they and their team have moved quickly, reaching the second stage of being able to make short flights. Lapsa said the company is working hard to prepare for the 2025 Stoke rocket debut, though he added that "there are some interesting opportunities to fly earlier than that." ”
Stoke Space has been assigned to use the launch complex No. 14 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
10。Virgin Galactic (NR).
After 20 years of operation, Virgin Galactic has finally ushered in the first year. The company launched the VSS Unity space shuttle six times at an altitude of 85 kilometers and for a while reached an impressive monthly commercial flight cadence. Although the vehicle is suborbital, this still represents an excellent performance of any rocket company.
Unfortunately, the outlook beyond this year is ambiguous. In November, Virgin Galactic said it would reduce the frequency of VSS Unity flights and stop flying them altogether by the middle of next year. After laying off 18 percent of its workforce, the company also said it was betting all its bets on its next-generation spacecraft: Delta-class vehicles. Test flights of these spacecraft will begin as early as 2025 and could theoretically fly twice a week with six customers, rather than the three or four passengers that Unity would be able to carry.