Leading all other nations, U.S. launch providers flew 44 missions in 2020 that aimed to place payloads in Earth orbit or deep space, with 40 successes. China followed with 35 successful orbital missions in 39 launch attempts.
View photos of Thursday’s spectacular sunset launch from Cape Canaveral of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket with the U.S. Air Force’s seventh Wideband Global SATCOM communications platform.