SpaceX Aims for 10,000 Launches Annually Within 5 Years; FAA Urges Improved Reliability

The administrator of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated today that SpaceX aims to increase its annual launch count to 10,000 within five years, but government officials must first see improved reliability before approving an expansion of this scale.

According to Reuters, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said he was told of SpaceX's ambitious goal during a meeting with SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. The article states that SpaceX conducted 170 launches in 2025, deploying approximately 2,500 satellites.

Bedford said Shotwell told him, "SpaceX's five-year vision is to achieve 10,000 launches per year."

In a Forbes video interview aired this week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk noted that SpaceX already has 10,000 satellites in orbit and ultimately hopes to launch 10,000 communication satellites per year, though he did not provide a specific timeline.

After a forum, Shotwell said that the FAA needs to see higher reliability before approving such goals. "We need to see more reliability," Shotwell said in an interview after the forum.

The FAA is responsible for authorizing all commercial space launches and has taken steps to streamline key hurdles. The FAA also implements restrictions to ensure that launch operations or space incidents do not interfere with civil aviation traffic.

Shotwell stated that the purpose of the meeting with SpaceX was "to clarify the various constraints we currently see, and from a planning perspective, to see what we can do now to be able to handle such challenging goals."

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bedford said he and Shotwell had "a very frank conversation, that we have to demand of ourselves, and they have to improve their reliability."

He noted that President Trump wants to land on the moon by 2028. Bedford added, "To achieve that goal, we must work with the industry to unleash innovation."

Bedford also said that the FAA is not currently a limiting factor for space launches. "I can foresee a future where we will be the limiting factor because we have not invested enough in our space team," he said.

Bedford said the FAA is reviewing data from previous launches to better understand the risks. To address safety concerns, the FAA must prohibit flights in certain areas during launches, which "can be very disruptive."

According to Agence France-Presse, SpaceX is set to conduct the first launch of its latest generation Starship tomorrow, testing the most powerful version of the super heavy-lift launch vehicle to date, as SpaceX also prepares for a highly anticipated Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The giant rocket is scheduled to lift off from a launchpad in South Texas as early as 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with the launch timing falling the day after SpaceX submitted its listing application to U.S. financial regulators. This will be the 12th launch of Starship, but the first in the last seven months.