Following a plethora of launches last week, the week of Aug. 14 through Aug. 20 only had three orbital launches—most of which are Chinese Starlink launches. The week started with the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) launching the HEAD-3A/B/C/D/E satellites atop its Kuaxzhou 1A rocket. After that, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-10 from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).
These missions mark the 126th through 128th orbital launch attempts of 2023 — a cadence that, if kept up, will lead to over 200 orbital launches this year. Additionally, if SpaceX’s cadence continues to grow at the same rate, the company is on track to launch just under 100 times in 2023.