Falcon 9
The world's first orbital-class reusable rocket.
Two-stage, medium-lift orbital launch vehicle · first flight June 4, 2010 (v1.0) · May 11, 2018 (Block 5)
Falcon 9 is the rocket that proved routine orbital-class reusability was possible. Since its 2010 debut it has evolved through five major revisions, culminating in the current Block 5 — a design frozen specifically so boosters could fly, land, and fly again with minimal refurbishment.
A single Falcon 9 first stage has now flown 36 times, landing on ocean-going drone ships or back at the launch site under its own power. That reusability, combined with an unmatched flight cadence, has made Falcon 9 the most-flown orbital rocket in history — SpaceX has landed a Falcon 9 booster nearly 600 times — and the backbone of its Starlink deployment, NASA cargo and crew resupply, and the commercial launch market.
Every Falcon 9 mission begins the same way: nine Merlin engines ignite, hold down for a health check, then release. Two and a half minutes later the first stage separates, flips using cold-gas thrusters, and — on most missions — boosts back or descends under its own engines to land within a few meters of its target.
Full technical breakdown
Dimensions
- Height
- 70 m (229.6 ft)with standard payload fairing
- Diameter
- 3.7 m (12 ft)
- Mass at liftoff
- 549,054 kg
- Stages
- 2, fully sequential
Performance
- Payload to LEO
- 22,800 kgexpendable; ~17,500 kg when recovering the booster
- Payload to GTO
- 8,300 kgexpendable; ~5,500 kg when recovering the booster
- Payload to Mars
- 4,020 kg
- Liftoff thrust
- 7,600 kN (1.7M lbf)
Reusability
- First stage
- RTLS or drone-ship landing
- Landing legs
- 4, deployable
- Grid fins
- 4, titanium
- Payload fairing
- Recovered and reflown
Propulsion & fuel
- Propellant
- RP-1 / liquid oxygen
- Stage separation
- T+ ~2 min 30 s
- Second-stage burn
- Single restartable engine
Engines
Merlin 1D
×9845 kN (190,000 lbf) sea level per engine
RP-1 / LOX, gas-generator cycle
Powers the first stage; throttleable and capable of restart for landing burns.
Merlin 1D Vacuum
×1981 kN (220,500 lbf) vacuum per engine
RP-1 / LOX
Extended nozzle optimized for vacuum performance; restarts for multi-burn missions.
Defining features
Flight-proven boosters
Block 5 first stages are certified for repeated flight with minimal inspection between launches; the current record-holder has flown 36 times, turning the rocket into reusable infrastructure rather than a disposable vehicle.
Autonomous droneship landings
Boosters descend onto 'Just Read the Instructions' and 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' — robotic ocean platforms that hold position using GPS and thrusters, no crew required during landing.
Grid fins & cold-gas control
Four hypersonic grid fins steer the booster through reentry, while cold-gas thrusters flip and roll the stage before the landing burn — all without ailerons or wings.
Human-rated for crew
Falcon 9 is the only U.S. rocket certified by NASA to carry astronauts, launching Crew Dragon to the ISS on a regular rotation since 2020.
Falcon 9 timeline
- 2010
Maiden flight
Falcon 9 v1.0 reaches orbit on its very first launch attempt.
- 2012
First ISS resupply
Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station.
- 2015
First landing
A Falcon 9 first stage lands upright at Landing Zone 1, the first orbital-class booster recovery in history.
- 2017
First reflight
A previously flown booster launches again, proving reusable orbital rockets are commercially viable.
- 2018
Block 5 debut
The final major revision enters service, designed from the outset for rapid reuse.
- 2020
Crewed spaceflight returns to U.S. soil
Demo-2 launches NASA astronauts aboard Crew Dragon — the first crewed orbital launch from the U.S. since 2011.
- 2026
Reuse record: 36 flights
Booster 1067 — flying since its CRS-22 debut in 2021 — becomes the first Falcon 9 first stage to reach 36 flights, closing in on Space Shuttle Discovery's all-time reuse record of 39.