# Number of China orbital launches by year [duplicate]

I've also posted the numbers below as a temporary answer here but I don't know if they are right so I'll also ask this as a question.

How many orbital launches did China make every year?

I got some data from Wikipedia, from pages like this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_in_spaceflight#Orbital_launch_statistics

But there is no data for years 2000 and before

Launches - succesfull - failures - partial failures

• 2019 - 34 - 32 - 2 - 0
• 2018 - 39 - 38 - 1 - 0
• 2017 - 18 - 16 - 1 - 1
• 2016 - 22 - 20 - 1 - 1
• 2015 - 19 - 19 - 0 - 0
• 2014 - 16 - 16 - 0 - 0
• 2013 - 15 - 14 - 1 - 0
• 2012 - 19 - 19 - 0 - 0
• 2011 - 19 - 18 - 1 - 0
• 2010 - 15 - 15 - 0 - 0
• 2009 - 6 - 5 - 0 - 1
• 2008 - 11 - 11 - 0 - 0
• 2007 - 10 - 10 - 0 - 0
• 2006 - 6 - 6 - 0 - 0
• 2005 - 5 - 5 - 0 - 0
• 2004 - 8 - 8 - 0 - 0
• 2003 - 7 - 6 - 1 - 0
• 2002 - 5 - 4 - 1 - 0
• 2001 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0
• As discussed previously, this question covers this off for all countries. Having separate ones for each country just makes duplication Number of launches by year, by country – Rory Alsop Dec 22 '20 at 23:02
• The answer to that question is too long and unreadable - it takes a lot of scrolling to get to the country you might be interested about. I think it is much better to close that question and to allow separate questions for individual countries, like this one – Joe Jobs Dec 23 '20 at 0:06

Below are the number of orbital and deep space launches from China.

YEAR LAUNCHES SUCCESS FAILURE
2016 22 21 1
2015 19 19 0
2014 16 16 0
2013 15 14 1
2012 19 19 0
2011 19 18 1
2010 15 15 0
2009 6 5 1
2008 11 11 0
2007 10 10 0
2006 6 6 0
2005 6 5 1
2004 8 8 0
2003 7 6 1
2002 5 4 1
2001 1 1 0
2000 5 5 0
1999 4 4 0
1998 6 6 0
1997 6 6 0
1996 4 2 2
1995 3 2 1
1994 5 5 0
1993 1 1 0
1992 4 3 1
1991 1 1 0
1990 5 5 0
1988 4 4 0
1987 2 2 0
1986 2 2 0
1985 1 1 0
1984 3 3 0
1983 1 1 0
1982 1 1 0
1981 1 1 0
1979 1 0 1
1978 1 1 0
1976 3 2 1
1975 3 3 0
1974 2 0 2
1973 1 0 1
1971 1 1 0
1970 1 1 0
1958 6 0 6

The data is based on a SQL interface to the 2017 JSR Launch Vehicle Database, as described in my answer here. These numbers are pretty close to the numbers from Wikipedia, but not exact matches. These questions are always more complicated than we'd like them to be and depend on how we define things like space and success.

The results are based on the below SQL query. If you want to verify the results or compare them to another source, replace the items in the SELECT clause with * and remove the GROUP BY and ORDER BY lines to get the full details.

select
to_char(launch_date, 'YYYY') year
,count(*) launches
,sum(case when launch_status = 'success' then 1 else 0 end) success
,sum(case when launch_status = 'failure' then 1 else 0 end) failure
from launch
join site
on launch.site_id = site.site_id
where
launch_category in ('deep space', 'orbital') and
(
site_full_name like '%Jiuquan Space Center%' or
site_full_name like '%Hainan%' or
site_full_name like '%Xichang%' or
site_full_name like '%China%' or
site_full_name like '%zhongxin%'
)
group by to_char(launch_date, 'YYYY')
order by year desc;

• I managed to find the landing site for Israel but I can't figure how to find the Ukraine launches, which used various locations outside Ukraine to launch their rockets – Joe Jobs Dec 21 '20 at 18:52
• I think the following question is interesting: "What is the biggest number of consecutive successful American orbital launches?" - I am not allowed to ask questions but if you would ask the question and then answer your own question then I will put a bounty of 100 points to it and give the bounty to you. Can I ask you to please ask this question? – Joe Jobs Dec 22 '20 at 21:20
• @JoeJobs I'm not comfortable asking questions for other people since there's a lot of room for error. And it might also be difficult to know exactly what is an "American" launch. It's relatively easy to categorize launches by site, but it's difficult to categorize them by their agency's country since there are so many agencies and some launches have multiple agencies involved. – Jon Heller Dec 23 '20 at 2:19
• Jonathan McDowell answered again and said the data might be missing in the 2017 version of the database – Joe Jobs Dec 24 '20 at 2:31
• @JoeJobs Thanks for looking that up and for reporting it. I hope to build a better database off of his improved GCAT data source some day; that ought to improve the data and offer many new features. – Jon Heller Dec 24 '20 at 5:07

I will update the data adding years 2017 and after:

YEAR LAUNCHES SUCCESS FAILURE
2020 37 33 4
2019 34 32 2
2018 39 38 1
2017 18 16 2
2016 22 21 1
2015 19 19 0
2014 16 16 0
2013 15 14 1
2012 19 19 0
2011 19 18 1
2010 15 15 0
2009 6 5 1
2008 11 11 0
2007 10 10 0
2006 6 6 0
2005 6 5 1
2004 8 8 0
2003 7 6 1
2002 5 4 1
2001 1 1 0
2000 5 5 0
1999 4 4 0
1998 6 6 0
1997 6 6 0
1996 4 2 2
1995 3 2 1
1994 5 5 0
1993 1 1 0
1992 4 3 1
1991 1 1 0
1990 5 5 0
1988 4 4 0
1987 2 2 0
1986 2 2 0
1985 1 1 0
1984 3 3 0
1983 1 1 0
1982 1 1 0
1981 1 1 0
1979 1 0 1
1978 1 1 0
1976 3 2 1
1975 3 3 0
1974 2 0 2
1973 1 0 1
1971 1 1 0
1970 1 1 0
1958 6 0 6