If anyone has the curiosity and time and possibility to run the scripts, I think it's interesting to see the most busy day, week, month and year, by decade.
Most busy week of 1960s then most busy week of 1970s then 1980s and so on.
The scripts are found in the accepted answer of this question
Below are the most-busy time periods based on the the JSR Launch Database database described here. I checked a few results with Carlos' answer and they seem to match.
THE_DAY THE_WEEK THE_MONTH THE_YEAR THE_DECADE LAUNCH_COUNT
---------- -------- --------- -------- ---------- ------------
4/26/1962 3
1985-W43 7
1971-12 17
1984 128
1950 23
1960 838
1970 1151
1980 1145
1990 837
2000 628
2010 600
10/4/1957 1950 1
4/26/1962 1960 3
4/8/1970 1970 3
5/26/1983 1980 3
2/28/1990 1990 3
12/21/2005 2000 3
6/15/2010 2010 3
1957-W40 1950 1
1962-W17 1960 6
1970-W15 1970 6
1985-W43 1980 7
1993-W25 1990 6
2000-W28 2000 5
2015-W13 2010 6
1959-08 1950 3
1965-12 1960 15
1971-12 1970 17
1983-04 1980 17
1990-04 1990 14
2000-10 2000 12
2014-12 2010 15
1959 1950 13
1967 1960 124
1976 1970 126
1984 1980 128
1990 1990 115
2000 2000 81
2014 2010 89
The above results are not complete since I removed a huge number of ties. Run the below query to see the full results.
This query is quite complicated, but it lets you do a huge amount of grouping in one statement and lets you easily change the input conditions. (I manually adjusted the above results to remove duplicates and to make a better looking order.)
--Most busy times in space launches, per day/week/month/year, and also
--per day/week/month/year and by decade.
with launches as
(
--#1: Choose the relevant statuses and categories to use in the rest of the query.
select *
from launch
where launch_status = 'success'
and launch_category in ('deep space', 'orbital')
)
--#6: Only choose the highest ranks.
select *
from
(
--#5: Rank the different groups.
select counts.*, dense_rank() over (partition by grouping_id, the_decade order by launch_count desc) the_rank
from
(
--#4: Count per different grouping.
select
the_day, the_week, the_month, the_year, the_decade,
grouping_id(the_day, the_week, the_month, the_year, the_decade) grouping_id,
count(launches.launch_date) launch_count
from
(
--#3: Date dimension for different date groupings.
select
the_day,
to_char(trunc(the_day, 'iw'), 'YYYY-"W"iw') the_week,
to_char(trunc(the_day, 'iw'), 'YYYY-MM-DD') week_start,
to_char(trunc(the_day, 'iw')+6, 'YYYY-MM-DD') week_end,
to_char(the_day, 'YYYY-MM') the_month,
to_char(the_day, 'YYYY') the_year,
trunc(to_char(the_day, 'YYYY')/10)*10 the_decade
from
(
--#2: All days in the data set.
select trunc((select min(launch_date) from launches) + level - 1) the_day
from dual
connect by level <= (select ceil(max(launch_date) - min(launch_date)) from launches)
order by the_day
)
) dates
left join launches
on dates.the_day = trunc(launches.launch_date)
group by grouping sets((the_day), (the_week), (the_month), (the_year), (the_decade)
,(the_decade, the_year), (the_decade, the_month), (the_decade, the_week), (the_decade, the_day))
order by grouping_id, the_decade, the_day, the_week, the_month, the_year
) counts
order by grouping_id, the_rank
)
where the_rank = 1
order by grouping_id, the_decade, the_day, the_week, the_month, the_year;
I have an Excel spreadsheet that pivots the data from JSR. I include all launches intended for orbit (earth or otherwise), both successful and unsuccessful. Here is my take at your request. Coming up with a good way of displaying within the StackExchange limitations is not easy.
Busiest Months
The specific busiest months, by decade were:
50s - Aug 58 (7)
60s - Dec 65, Apr 68 (16)
70s - Dec 71 (20)
80s - Jun 82 (18)
90s - Apr 90, Aug 90 (15)
00s - Oct 00 (12)
10s - Dec 14, Dec 18, Dec 19 (15)
20s - Jul 20 (14)
Table shows total number of launches for each calendar month.
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| Month | 50s | 60s | 70s | 80s | 90s | 00s | 10s | 20s | Total |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 1 | 1 | 55 | 74 | 84 | 54 | 30 | 53 | 7 | 358 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 2 | 4 | 75 | 86 | 96 | 74 | 49 | 56 | 9 | 449 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 3 | 4 | 89 | 90 | 102 | 63 | 47 | 66 | 8 | 469 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 4 | 4 | 98 | 111 | 95 | 86 | 62 | 66 | 5 | 527 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 5 | 2 | 77 | 105 | 104 | 70 | 54 | 67 | 9 | 488 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 6 | 5 | 92 | 124 | 119 | 60 | 65 | 77 | 7 | 549 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 7 | 3 | 80 | 105 | 99 | 78 | 46 | 72 | 14 | 497 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 8 | 11 | 91 | 98 | 108 | 95 | 53 | 64 | 7 | 527 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 9 | 5 | 78 | 101 | 121 | 68 | 67 | 86 | 10 | 536 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 10 | 7 | 104 | 117 | 92 | 76 | 69 | 76 | | 541 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 11 | 5 | 87 | 85 | 77 | 74 | 47 | 90 | | 465 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| 12 | 4 | 96 | 136 | 96 | 93 | 75 | 116 | | 616 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
| Total | 55 | 1022 | 1232 | 1193 | 891 | 664 | 889 | 76 | 6022 |
+-------+-----+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+
Busiest Weeks
The specific busiest weeks, by decade were (week number/year):
50s - w35/58 (4)
60s - w38/66 (7)
70s - w49/21 (8)
80s - w43/85 (8)
90s - w26/93, w45/94 (6)
00s - w07/00, w11/08 (5)
10s - w13/15, w41/17, w2/18, w49/18 (6)
20s - w30/20, w36/20 (5)
Table shows top 5 calendar weeks (1-52) per decade. In case of a tie at the bottom of the top 5 range I only show the first X weeks in the tie (e.g. the not displayed row #6 may have the same count as the displayed row #5). Busiest week across the entire space age is week #51 - the rush to launch before Christmas.
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| Rank | 50s | 60s | 70s | 80s | 90s | 00s | 10s | 20s | Space Age |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 1 | 35 | 51 | 51 | 36 | 14 | 43 | 33 | 30 | 51 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 2 | 41 | 43 | 26 | 25 | 35 | 17 | 29 | 36 | 21 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 3 | 49 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 52 | 28 | 27 | 52 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 4 | 26 | 42 | 30 | 32 | 51 | 37 | 28 | 7 | 39 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 5 | 45 | 12 | 42 | 38 | 52 | 42 | 24 | 8 | 26 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
Busiest Days
The specific busiest days, by decade were:
50s - 11-Oct-58 (2)
60s - 26-Apr-62 (4)
70s - 15 different days with 3 launches
80s - 10 different days with 3 launches
90s - 7 different days with 3 launches
00s - 13-Mar-00, 21-Dec-05 (3)
10s - 7 different days with 3 launches
20s - 12 different days with 2 launches
Table shows top 10 calendar days (1-366) per decade. In case of a tie at the bottom of the top 10 range I only show the first X days in the tie (e.g. the not displayed row #11 may have the same count as the displayed row #10). There clearly is a lull around New Year. The lull around day 122 is harder to explain, it is too late for the Easter holidays. Across the entire Space Age day 355 is the busiest (launch in time to get everyone home for Christmas?
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| Rank | 50s | 60s | 70s | 80s | 90s | 00s | 10s | 20s | Space Age |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 1 | 277 | 116 | 178 | 271 | 324 | 355 | 272 | 186 | 355 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 2 | 284 | 144 | 350 | 191 | 356 | 241 | 353 | 256 | 116 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 3 | 340 | 297 | 97 | 169 | 242 | 268 | 337 | 212 | 178 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 4 | 255 | 355 | 204 | 50 | 81 | 303 | 324 | 16 | 350 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 5 | 227 | 339 | 20 | 246 | 336 | 116 | 268 | 165 | 135 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 6 | 290 | 167 | 259 | 83 | 360 | 288 | 325 | 40 | 361 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 7 | 59 | 235 | 289 | 135 | 269 | 110 | 357 | 205 | 353 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 8 | 236 | 156 | 137 | 361 | 214 | 124 | 351 | 76 | 231 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 9 | 62 | 350 | 161 | 215 | 115 | 252 | 156 | 247 | 140 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
| 10 | 269 | 84 | 325 | 16 | 59 | 159 | 32 | 100 | 324 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+
