first year
1957 · Baikonur
Two extracted orbital-attempt rows, operated by the USSR/Russia bloc. The same physical site remains active under the stated rule. source
Orbital launch attempts reached 7,388; active sites now carry a record launch pace
The live archive covers orbital launch attempts from 1957 through 22 August 2026. The extracted year × launch-site × operating-bloc matrix contains 716 combinations; “active” here means the site records at least one launch in 2025 or 2026, an explicit reproducible rule rather than an official site designation.
7,388
orbital attempts in source archive
716
year × site × bloc combinations
70
calendar years represented
204
attempts in 2026 through 22 Aug
Annual orbital launch attempts
launch attempts
1957197019801990200020102026 YTD
What the record shows
1
The modern record is concentrated at still-active sites. A site is marked active only when its latest extracted orbital attempt falls in 2025–2026; the status is computed from the launch record, not marketing material.
2
The Cold War plateau has been overtaken. Annual totals mostly sat near 100–140 in the late 1960s through 1990, while 2023, 2024 and 2025 reached 223, 263 and 330 respectively. orbitalradar.com
3
“Operating bloc” follows the operator, not geography. Operators were normalized to United States, USSR/Russia, China, Europe, Japan, India, International or Other, so a multinational or foreign-operated mission can differ from the host country.
4
The cutoff trails today by four days. Today is 26 August 2026, but the newest launch in the fetched archive is dated 22 August; no launches after that date are claimed here. orbitalradar.com
highest complete year
2025 · 330 attempts
The largest complete annual total in the archive, exceeding 2024’s 263 by 67 attempts. source
current cutoff
2026 · 204 attempts
Year-to-date through 22 August, including launches from Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg, Mahia, Jiuquan, Taiyuan, Hainan and other sites. source
Supporting data and definitions
| Field | Definition used | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Launch universe | Successful orbital launches plus confirmed failed orbital attempts | planet4589.org |
| Year | UTC calendar year of launch date | orbitalradar.com |
| Launch site | Named site in the launch record; spelling and renamed designations of the same physical site normalized, distinct complexes retained | orbitalradar.com |
| Operating bloc | Broad bloc inferred from launch operator: US, USSR/Russia, China, Europe, Japan, India, International or Other | Derived field |
| Still active | Yes when latest extracted launch from that site is dated 2025-01-01 or later | Derived field |
| Row grain | Year × site × operating bloc, with a launch-count measure; 716 rows represent the 7,388-attempt archive compactly | Derived matrix |
Method: 70 year pages plus the GCAT methodology page and archive overview were scanned on 26 August 2026. Orbital Radar states that its record is built on GCAT and Launch Library 2. Counts shown are launch attempts, not payloads. The source archive was last observed through 22 August 2026; 2026 is year-to-date.