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Falcon Heavy
Heavy-lift launch vehicle consisting of a strengthened Falcon 9 core with two additional boosters.
SpaceXFalcon 9
Active
Partially reusable two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle. The world's most frequently launched orbital rocket.
Latest update Sep 24, 2026
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Current status
Operational since 2010. 107 Falcon 9 missions flown in 2026 as of the September 19 Starlink 15-27 launch from Vandenberg, which Space.com counted as the 107th Falcon 9 and Spaceflight Now as the 662nd Falcon booster landing (B1093, 17th flight, Of Course I Still Love You). That is the 702nd Falcon-family mission after the September 16 USSF-259 701st. Next listed Falcon 9s on SpaceX's launches page are USSF-385 on September 26 and Crew-13 on October 1. The fleet leader (B1067) remains at a record 37th flight on August 25.
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Specifications8
- Total Launches
- 702
(Falcon family as of Starlink 15-27 on September 19, 2026: 701 after USSF-259 on September 16, plus one Falcon 9). Space.com counted that flight as the 107th Falcon 9 of 2026
- Booster Landings
- 662
Spaceflight Now post-launch count after booster B1093 landed on Of Course I Still Love You following Starlink 15-27 on September 19, 2026
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Upcoming milestones1
Announced next steps from SpaceX that mention Falcon 9.
Early October 2026
Launch Crew-13 to the ISS
TargetEarly October 2026 (NASA/SpaceX targeting that window; official date not yet posted)
NASA had moved up SpaceX's Crew-13 mission from a planned November launch to September 12, 2026 to increase ISS crew-rotation cadence, but on August 29, 2026 NASA and SpaceX postponed that date after an oxidizer leak was detected on Dragon's propulsion system during standard prelaunch processing. On September 16, 2026 NASA's ISS account said SpaceX had replaced the oxidizer valve and that NASA and SpaceX are now targeting as soon as early October to finish prelaunch work, readiness reviews and ISS coordination. On September 17 the four-person crew - NASA's Jessica Watkins (commander) and Luke Delaney (pilot), CSA's Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos's Sergey Teteryatnikov - entered prelaunch quarantine at Johnson Space Center. No specific launch date has been posted. The Dragon flight will lift off on a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center, continuing the Commercial Crew Program's regular ISS rotations.
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In the news25
Falcon 9 launches classified USSF-481 from Vandenberg
On Oct. 15, 2026 at 5:01 p.m. PDT, which was 0001 UTC on Oct. 16, Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg SLC-4E on the U.S. Space Force USSF-481 mission. Spaceflight Now and Space.com report that booster B1081, on its 28th flight, landed on Of Course I Still Love You about eight minutes later. The payload was not disclosed. Spaceflight Now says public notices also call the mission TH-2 and that hazard warnings suggest a low Earth orbit near 80 degrees inclination.
Falcon 9 launches NASA CRS-35 cargo to the station
SpaceX launched NASA's 35th cargo resupply mission at 6:33 a.m. EDT on Oct. 13 from SLC-40, carrying more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, science, and the final pair of ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays. Falcon 9 booster B1096 landed at Landing Zone 40 on its eighth flight. Cargo Dragon is scheduled to dock to the Harmony space-facing port at 11 a.m. EDT on Oct. 15.
Falcon 9 launches 27 Starlink satellites after a three-week gap
SpaceX said Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg SLC-4E at 5:28 p.m. PT on Oct. 12, 2026 (00:28 UTC on Oct. 13) with 27 Starlink satellites, the first Falcon 9 Starlink flight since Sept. 19. Booster B1088 landed on Of Course I Still Love You on its 20th flight. SpaceX lists satellite deployment at about T+1:01:58, and Space.com reported that SpaceX said the 27 satellites reached orbit 62 minutes after liftoff.
SpaceX lofts SDA fourth Tranche 1 plane
SpaceX launched Falcon 9 from Vandenberg SLC-4E at 12:39 a.m. PT on Oct. 10, delivering 21 Northrop Grumman-built Space Development Agency Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites. SDA said the flight was the fourth of nine Tranche 1 missions and brought on-orbit T1 vehicles to 84 after an Oct. 5 abort. The booster, on its sixth flight, landed at LZ-4; Northrop said the satellites deployed and that a second 21-satellite plane is planned.
www.spacex.com www.sda.mil news.northropgrumman.com www.space.com
Falcon Heavy flies first NRO mission as NROL-97
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifted the classified NROL-97 payload from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A at 11:54 p.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2026, the National Reconnaissance Office's first Falcon Heavy flight after 22 Falcon 9 missions and its first NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launch. Spaceflight Now and NASASpaceFlight said side boosters B1072 and B1104 landed at LZ-1 and LZ-2 while new center core B1106 was expended toward a high-energy orbit. Payload identity and upper-stage deploy status were not disclosed; the flight was SpaceX's third Falcon launch of the day and, Spaceflight Now said, the first day it landed four boosters.
SpaceX lofts Google Suncatcher TPU satellite on Transporter-18
A Falcon 9 lifted Transporter-18 from Vandenberg SLC-4E at 2:32 p.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2026, carrying 130 payloads including Google's Project Suncatcher pathfinder, which tests TPUs in orbit on a Planet Labs satellite. Space.com said the first stage landed at LZ-4 about 7.5 minutes later on its 25th flight, with payload deployments due about 54.5 minutes after liftoff. This was SpaceX's second launch of the day after Crew-13; NROL-97 on Falcon Heavy was still scheduled for 11:53 p.m. EDT.
www.space.com www.independent.co.uk qz.com + Google DeepMind
SpaceX launches Crew-13 to the ISS on Dragon Grace
A Falcon 9 lifted off at 11:10 a.m. EDT on Oct. 1 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov toward the International Space Station aboard Dragon Grace. NASA said the spacecraft reached orbit, separated from the second stage and opened its nosecone, with docking at Harmony's space-facing port targeted for 7 p.m. EDT as the fastest launch-to-docking in ISS history. Space.com reported booster B1101 landed at Landing Zone 40 about 7 minutes 40 seconds after liftoff on its third flight; docking had not occurred at the time of this report.
SpaceX launches classified USSF-385 from Vandenberg
SpaceX said a Falcon 9 launched the classified USSF-385 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:00 a.m. PT on September 26. The company said the first-stage booster was on its 10th flight, after NROL-95 and eight Starlink missions, and then landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Pacific. Space.com reported the payload remains classified and that this was SpaceX's third national-security Falcon 9 flight of the month, after USSF-153 on September 10 and USSF-259 on September 16.
Space Cargo becomes first known Starfall customer for 2028
Space Cargo CEO Nicolas Gaume told Reuters on September 15 that the Luxembourg mission integrator is the first known customer for SpaceX's Starfall cargo-return capsule. Space Cargo plans to fly its BentoBox system inside a Starfall capsule on Starship's first commercial mission, targeted for 2028, carrying up to about 1 ton of customer payloads, nearly half in life sciences. SpaceX did not comment; Starfall flew a demo capsule on Falcon 9 in June 2026.
SpaceX flies 700th Falcon mission for SES
A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's SLC-40 at 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 UTC) on September 13 carrying SES's final three O3b mPOWER satellites (F11-F13). Space.com counted it as SpaceX's 105th Falcon 9 and 107th orbital mission of 2026, and Spaceflight Now as the 700th Falcon-family launch (687 Falcon 9 and 13 Falcon Heavy). Booster B1080 flew for the 29th time and landed on A Shortfall of Gravitas, the 661st Falcon booster landing; the Boeing-built satellites deployed around 8,000 km in medium Earth orbit and SES says they will enter service by mid-2027, completing a 13-satellite constellation.
SpaceX launches classified USSF-153 from Vandenberg
SpaceX launched the classified USSF-153 mission on a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base on September 10, 2026, lifting off at 8:42 a.m. PT. The first-stage booster, on its 27th flight, landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The U.S. Space Force payload remains undisclosed. The Debrief reported the flight as SpaceX's 104th Falcon 9 mission of 2026.
SpaceX flies its last Cape Canaveral Starlink mission on Falcon 9
SpaceX VP of Launch Kiko Dontchev said the Starlink 10-49 mission on August 25 was the last Falcon 9 Starlink launch planned from Cape Canaveral until Starship begins flying from Florida, ending a run of roughly 260 Starlink missions from the Cape over seven years. The move drops Florida's monthly Falcon 9 cadence from eight or nine flights to about two while Vandenberg Space Force Base absorbs Starlink launches for the rest of 2026 and possibly longer, freeing up Cape Canaveral infrastructure for Starship operations.
SpaceX flies its last Florida Falcon 9 Starlink mission
SpaceX flew its final planned Falcon 9 Starlink mission from Florida on August 25, closing out roughly seven years and about 260 Starlink launches from Cape Canaveral's Pad 40 on that rocket. Future Starlink launches from Florida will fly on Starship instead, with Falcon 9 Starlink missions continuing only from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
SpaceX hits 100 launches in 2026 as Starlink tops 11,000 satellites
SpaceX reached its 100th orbital launch of 2026 in the early hours of August 19 with a Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base, crossing the century mark for the third year in a row and about two months faster than it did in 2024. Falcon 9 flew 97 of the 100 missions and roughly three-quarters were dedicated to Starlink, whose broadband constellation has now pushed past 11,000 satellites in orbit, accounting for close to two-thirds of all active spacecraft around Earth.
SpaceX sets new launch cadence record, 38 minutes apart
SpaceX launched two Falcon 9 rockets from opposite coasts just 38.5 minutes apart on the night of August 15, breaking its previous record of 65 minutes set in August 2024. The first carried eight satellites to replenish Globalstar's constellation from Cape Canaveral, landing its booster about 8 minutes after liftoff, while the second launched the classified USSF-366 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg, landing on a droneship in the Pacific.
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