Introduction

This notebook is an exploratory analysis on the Kaggle dataset, "All Space Missions from 1957," using Python in Jupyter Notebook. The analysis utilizes the following Python libraries:

• Numpy
• Pandas
• Matplotlib
• Seaborn
• Plotly
• Tabulate

The analysis is of personal interest to me due to my fascination with space exploration. In the analysis I attempt to utilize all columns of the data to create a comprehensive analysis of global space missions since 1957, which is the year the Sovient Union launched the first satellite into space, Sputnik (archives.gov).

Click here to access the full analysis and write-up.

Analysis Questions

The analysis intends to answer the following questions:

Company Name

1. How many companies have launched space missions since 1957?
2. Which 5 companies have launched the most space missions since 1957?
3. For the 5 companies from the previous question, how many missions have been successful? Failed?

Location

1. Which 5 countries have launched the most space missions since 1957?
2. From those 5 countries in Question 1, how many missions have been successful or failed?
3. For space missions launched from the USA, which state has launched the most space missions?

Datum

1. Which 10 years had the most space missions occur? And for the year with the most space missions, was there anything particularly special about this year?
2. Which year had the most successes? Most failures?
3. For the top 5 countries from the Analysis on Location in Q1, what is the trend of space mission from 1957 to present?
4. What month do most space missions occur?
5. What is the most "popular" hour to launch a space mission at?

Rocket (Cost of Mission)

1. Which company has the most expensive space missions on average?
2. Which space mission was the most expensive of all time?

Status Rocket

1. How many countries currently have active rockets? And which countries are they?
2. Are there any countries that do not have any active rockets?

Key Takeaways

• The RVSN USSR and Russia have launched the most space missions since 1957.
  • The RVSN USSR has had 1,614 successful and 121 failed space missions.
• The United States has launched a comparative number of space missions to Russia (1,349 vs. 1,395), but the United States has had more failed missions compared to Russia (129 vs. 62) and less successful missions compared to Russia (1,186 vs. 1,303).
• After the 1990's Russia has decreased the number of space missions conducted.
• Overtime the United States has stayed consistent with launching space missions.
  • Prior to 2020 China has risen as a contender in space exploration against the United States.
• China and the United States have the highest number of active rockets, 224 and 213, respectively.
• Only three countries, Austria, South Korea, and Kenya, do not currently have active rockets.
• 1971 was the biggest year for space exploration with 119 space missions conducted. In recent times, 2018 was the biggest year for space exploration with 117 space missions conducted.
  • 2018 also had the most successful space missions conducted, 113.
  • 1958 and 1960 had the most failed space missions, 20 each.

The full analysis and write-up can be read in the Jupyter Notebook.