![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Falcon_9_logo.svg/640px-Falcon_9_logo.svg.png&w=640&q=50)
Falcon 9
Orbital launch vehicle by SpaceX / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Falcon 9?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable, human-rated, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on 4 June 2010. The first Falcon 9 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on 8 October 2012.[14] In 2020 it became the first commercial rocket to launch humans to orbit.[15] In 2022, it became the U.S. rocket with the most launches in history and with a near perfect safety record, having suffered two flight failures.[16]
![]() | |
![]() A Falcon 9 lifting off from Kennedy LC-39A, carrying Demo-2 | |
Function | Medium-lift launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Country of origin | United States |
Cost per launch | US$69.75 million (2024)[1] |
Size | |
Height | |
Diameter | 3.7 m (12 ft)[2] |
Mass | |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Orbital inclination | 28.5° |
Mass |
|
Payload to GTO | |
Orbital inclination | 27.0° |
Mass |
|
Payload to Mars | |
Mass | FT: 4,020 kg (8,860 lb)[1] |
Associated rockets | |
Based on | Falcon 1 |
Derivative work | Falcon Heavy |
Launch history | |
Status |
|
Launch sites |
|
Total launches |
|
Success(es) |
|
Failure(s) | 2 (v1.1: CRS-7, FT Block 5: Starlink Group 9-3) |
Partial failure(s) | 1 (v1.0: CRS-1) |
Notable outcome(s) | 1 (FT: AMOS-6 pre-flight destruction) |
Landings | 314 / 323 attempts |
First flight |
|
Last flight | |
First stage | |
Powered by | |
Maximum thrust | |
Specific impulse | |
Burn time | |
Propellant | LOX / RP-1 |
Second stage | |
Powered by |
|
Maximum thrust | |
Specific impulse | |
Burn time | |
Propellant | LOX / RP-1 |
The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payload to a pre-determined speed and altitude, after which the second stage accelerates the payload to its target orbit. The booster is capable of landing vertically to facilitate reuse. This feat was first achieved on flight 20 in December 2015. As of 12 July 2024, SpaceX has successfully landed Falcon 9 boosters 314 times.[upper-alpha 1] Individual boosters have flown as many as 22 flights.[17] Both stages are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines,[upper-alpha 2] using cryogenic liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) as propellants.[18][19]
The heaviest payloads flown to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) were Intelsat 35e carrying 6,761 kg (14,905 lb), and Telstar 19V with 7,075 kg (15,598 lb). The former was launched into an advantageous super-synchronous transfer orbit,[20] while the latter went into a lower-energy GTO, with an apogee well below the geostationary altitude.[21] On 24 January 2021, Falcon 9 set a record for the most satellites launched by a single rocket, carrying 143 into orbit.[22]
Falcon 9 is human-rated for transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS, certified for the National Security Space Launch program[23] and the NASA Launch Services Program lists it as a "Category 3" (Low Risk) launch vehicle allowing it to launch the agency's most expensive, important, and complex missions.[24]
Several versions of Falcon 9 have been built and flown: v1.0 flew from 2010 to 2013, v1.1 flew from 2013 to 2016, while v1.2 Full Thrust first launched in 2015, encompassing the Block 5 variant, which has been in operation since May 2018.