Elon Musk's SpaceX plans 52 rocket launches in 2022

SpaceX successfully completed 31 launches in 2021, breaking its own record of 26 launches a year earlier. This is about a fifth of all successful launches of orbital rockets in the world in a year.

At NASA did not specifywhether the 52 launch plan includes test flights of prototype Starship rockets. But even taking them into account, the result is impressive.

For comparison: in 2021 Russia committed 24 launches from the Plesetsk, Vostochny and Baikonur cosmodromes and one from the Kourou in French Guiana, China - 55 launches, the United States in total - 43.

Since the beginning of January, SpaceX has launched Falcon 9 rockets into space three times, and plans two more launches by the end of the month. In addition, in 2022 SpaceX will make several launches of super-heavy Falcon Heavy rockets with a crew on board.

SpaceX is reusing the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, landing rocket boosters and restoring half of the nose cone. This allows to reduce the cost of launches from 60-90 million US dollars to 30 million, as well as speed up preparations for the launch.

The company is planning several launches with NASA. Sandra Magnus, member of the NASA Aerospace Safety Commission and former astronaut, said experts will be careful to ensure that the record number of launches does not cause damage.