Like many others I keep following SpaceX launches. Including the one one launch of the Falcon Heavy, that not only brought Elon Musk’s red Tesla Roadster on the way to Mars, but also brought us the synchronized double landing of the two first stages. Not a month goes by without another launch by SpaceX, with a reliability that currently is unmatched.

Mid June of last year SpaceX-SVP Tim Hughes testified before the House Subcommittee on Space, Science and Technology possible collaboration scenarios between SpaceX and the U.S. government for deep space exploration.

During his testimonials Tim Hughes showed a chart with the actual and forecast market share of SpaceX in the launch market. A mind-blowing 60+ percent of launches of will 2018 be owned by SpaceX, while Europe accounts for 28 and Russia for 8 percent.

SpaceX grabbed the majority of launches within just 5 years, with the first launch only in 2013. And that has several reasons. Not only is SpaceX a highly reliable launch platform, but also a lot cheaper. One launch costs around 62 million dollars, and is expected to fall even more with every successful landing of the first stages. The price is a treat as other carriers charge 100 million and more per start.

In 1998 the US were leading the launch market with 666 starts per year bringing satellites in the orbit. But 2011 those fell to 0(!), due to the stop of development of rocket technology. Now this year SpaceX is expected to have the first manned launch.

Here is the recording of SpaceX-SVP Tim Hughes presentation:

This article has also been published in German.