Falcon 9: The Workhorse Rocket That Changed Spaceflight

No single rocket has done more to transform the modern space industry than SpaceX's Falcon 9. Since its first flight in June 2010, Falcon 9 has evolved from an unproven newcomer to the most-launched orbital rocket in history, flying more frequently than any vehicle before it and fundamentally rewriting the economics of spaceflight through reusability.

As of early 2026, Falcon 9 has completed over 400 missions with a success rate exceeding 99%, launched astronauts to the International Space Station, deployed thousands of Starlink satellites, and proven that orbital-class rocket boosters can be routinely landed and reflown. This is the story of how it happened.

The History of Falcon 9

SpaceX was founded in 2002 with the explicit goal of reducing the cost of space access. After the company's smaller Falcon 1 achieved orbit in 2008 (on its fourth attempt), development shifted to the much larger Falcon 9, named for its nine Merlin engines on the first stage.

Key development milestones:

• 2005: Falcon 9 development announced
• June 2010: First Falcon 9 flight (v1.0) carries a Dragon qualification unit to orbit
• May 2012: Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the ISS (COTS Demo Flight 2)
• September 2013: Falcon 9 v1.1 debuts with upgraded Merlin 1D engines and an extended fairing
• December 2015: First successful landing of an orbital-class booster at Landing Zone 1, Cape Canaveral, a watershed moment in spaceflight history
• April 2016: First successful drone ship landing at sea (Of Course I Still Love You)
• March 2017: First reflight of a recovered booster (SES-10 mission)
• 2018: Falcon 9 Block 5 (the final, fully optimized version) enters service, designed for 10+ flights per booster
• May 2020: Crew Dragon Demo-2 sends NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the ISS, returning human spaceflight to U.S. soil
• 2023: SpaceX surpasses 200 Falcon 9 missions. Individual boosters begin exceeding 20 flights
• 2025: Falcon 9 launches over 130 missions in a single year, averaging one launch every 2.8 days, an unprecedented operational tempo

Technical Specifications

Falcon 9 Block 5 (current operational version):

The Reusability Revolution

Falcon 9's reusability is its defining innovation, and the one that reshaped the industry's economics.

How It Works

After stage separation at approximately 80 km altitude and Mach 10, the first stage performs a series of maneuvers to return to Earth:

1. Boostback burn: Three engines reignite to reverse the booster's trajectory back toward the landing zone
2. Re-entry burn: Three engines fire again to slow the booster as it re-enters the atmosphere, while grid fins provide aerodynamic steering
3. Landing burn: A single engine fires for the final descent, guiding the booster to a pinpoint landing on either a ground pad (Landing Zone 1/2) or an autonomous drone ship at sea

The entire return sequence takes roughly 8-9 minutes. SpaceX has refined this process to the point where booster recovery is essentially routine, with landing success rates above 98%.

Reusability Milestones

• First booster landing: December 2015 (Orbcomm OG2)
• First booster reflight: March 2017 (SES-10, booster B1021)
• 10th flight of a single booster: May 2021 (booster B1051)
• 20th flight of a single booster: 2023 (booster B1058)
• Record flights per booster: 25+ flights achieved by multiple boosters in 2025
• Fairing reuse: Both payload fairing halves are routinely recovered and reflown, saving ~$6 million per flight

Cost Impact

Before Falcon 9, launching a medium-to-heavy payload to orbit typically cost $100-200 million. SpaceX's published price for a Falcon 9 launch is approximately $67 million (expendable), but internal costs for reusable missions are estimated at $15-28 million per flight. This represents a 5-10x reduction in launch costs compared to the previous generation of expendable vehicles.

This cost reduction has enabled entirely new business models, most notably mega-constellations like Starlink, which would be economically impossible at legacy launch prices.

Launch Record and Reliability

Falcon 9's operational record is remarkable:

• Total flights (through early 2026): 400+
• Success rate: >99% (only two mission failures in history: CRS-7 in June 2015 and AMOS-6 pre-launch explosion in September 2016)
• Crewed flights: 15+ (all successful, including NASA Commercial Crew missions, Inspiration4, and private Axiom missions)
• Starlink deployments: 200+ dedicated Starlink missions
• 2025 launch cadence: 130+ missions, or approximately one launch every 2.8 days

This reliability has made Falcon 9 the vehicle of choice for national security missions, commercial satellite operators, NASA science missions, and crewed spaceflight, a breadth of trust that no other rocket currently matches.

Impact on the Launch Market

Falcon 9 has fundamentally reshaped the global launch market:

• Market share: SpaceX commands over 60% of the global commercial launch market by number of missions
• Price pressure: Competitors including Arianespace (Ariane 6), ULA (Vulcan), and Rocket Lab (Neutron) have been forced to design cost-competitive vehicles from the outset
• Reusability as standard: Every new medium/heavy launch vehicle in development incorporates some form of reusability, a direct response to Falcon 9's proof of concept
• Rideshare revolution: SpaceX's Transporter rideshare missions (starting 2021) offer small satellite operators access to orbit for as little as $275,000 per unit, democratizing space access
• Cadence expectations: Falcon 9's operational tempo has raised the bar for what customers expect in terms of launch availability and scheduling flexibility

What's Next: Falcon 9's Future

Despite the development of Starship, SpaceX's next-generation fully reusable super heavy-lift vehicle, Falcon 9 is expected to continue flying well into the late 2020s and possibly beyond. Several factors ensure its longevity:

• Proven reliability makes it preferred for high-value payloads and crewed missions during Starship's operational ramp-up
• Right-sized for many missions that don't need Starship's massive 100+ ton capacity
• Existing infrastructure at Cape Canaveral (LC-40), Kennedy Space Center (LC-39A), and Vandenberg (SLC-4E)
• National security certification through the U.S. Space Force's National Security Space Launch program

Falcon 9 has proven that rockets don't have to be disposable, that launch cadence can be measured in days rather than months, and that a single vehicle design, continuously improved, can dominate the global launch market. It is, without question, the most consequential rocket of the 21st century so far.

Compare Falcon 9 specifications, costs, and launch records against every other active and in-development vehicle on the SpaceNexus Launch Vehicles database.