A late surge of launch activity, primarily by China and Russia, pushed the total number of orbital launches worldwide in 2014 to its highest level in 20 years. The Dec. 31 launch of the Chinese Fengyun-2G weather satellite on a Long March 3A rocket was the 92nd and final scheduled orbital launch of 2014. That is the highest number of launches in a single calendar year since 1994, when 93 launches took place. As is traditionally the case, Russia performed the most launches in 2014, with 32 from Russian-operated launch sites at Baikonur, Plesetsk and Yasny. In addition, four Russian Soyuz rockets launched from French Guiana on missions conducted by Arianespace. The United States carried out 23 launches, 14 of which involved Atlas and Delta rockets manufactured by United Launch Alliance. SpaceX performed six Falcon 9 launches and Orbital Sciences Corp. launched its Antares rocket three times, including a failed launch Oct. 28.
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