SpaceX

Falcon 9

Active

Partially reusable two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle. The world's most frequently launched orbital rocket.

Latest update Sep 24, 2026

Falcon 9

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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

Payload to LEO
22,800 kg (expendable)
Payload to GTO
8,300 kg (expendable)
Height
69.8 m (229 ft)
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

Success Rate
99.8%
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

Most-Reused Booster
37 flights

B1067, August 25, 2026 - orbital reuse record, on the Starlink 10-49 mission, chasing the Space Shuttle's 39

Cost per Launch
~$67M

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Upcoming milestones1

Announced next steps from SpaceX that mention Falcon 9.

  1. 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 news22

  1. 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

  2. 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.

    spaceflightnow.com www.nasaspaceflight.com starlust.org

  3. 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

  4. 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.

    www.nasa.gov www.space.com spaceflightnow.com

  5. 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.

    www.spacex.com www.space.com

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