posted 11-29-2016 08:29 AM               

This year, for the first time in history, Russia has fallen behind the United States and China as the world's leading launcher of space rockets. Russia will finish 2016 with just 18 launches, according to open source data, compared to China's 19 and America's 20 launches.

Alexander Ivanov, deputy chief of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, said on Nov. 29 that the launch rate has decreased because Moscow's space strategy has changed. Currently, it's top priority is reviving existing and aging satellite groupings.

But there are other reasons Russia's launch rate may be falling behind...

posted 11-29-2016 01:21 PM               

On edit: It appears the Moscow Times story may be wrong. From Jonathan McDowell on Twitter:

I am confused. What about 1958-1966 and 1996-2003? I think you need to recheck your numbers.

posted 11-29-2016 10:08 PM               

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported, as Roscosmos did, that 2016 is the first year Russia fell behind the U.S. in launches. In fact, the Soviet Union was initially behind the U.S. from about 1957 to 1967, and briefly again during the late 1990s.