The Human Spaceflight Record: Demand Evidence, 2000–2026
How many people actually fly to orbit each year, and who pays for them?
Chapter summary
Every crewed orbital launch since 2000, from the GCAT launch log, classified by vehicle, destination and customer. The record is the evidence base for the study’s demand assumptions.
Key takeaways
- 1
The world flew 38 crewed orbital launches in 2021–2025, about 7.6 a year: 25 to the ISS, 10 to Tiangong, 3 free flights.
- 2
Only 7 were private, and no year has seen more than two; station-bound private missions have run at about one a year.
- 3
Crew Dragon flew 94% of US crewed launches in 2021–2025 and every private mission.
Key figures in this chapter
- 7.6
- crewed orbital launches a year, 2021–2025
- 7
- private missions in five years
- 2
- most private missions in any year
- 94%
- of US crewed launches on Crew Dragon
Source: Setcoin station record: GCAT launch log (J. McDowell), as of 2026-10-20
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