The month of January 2026 witnessed an unusually high rate of incidents within the space sector: out of 24 worldwide launches conducted, three ended in failure, marking one of the poorest performance statistics in recent decades. The bulk of these setbacks were attributable to China, which sharply curtailed its launch tempo following two failures in eight attempts, and India, whose sole mission attempt proved unsuccessful. In total, 23 satellites were lost by the year’s start due to technical malfunctions.
The undisputed frontrunner in terms of mission volume was the United States, achieving 15 successful launches, with the Falcon 9 rocket accounting for 13 of those. Throughout January, 298 payloads were successfully placed into orbit, with 249 of those being Starlink satellites.
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