Falcon 9 is the most successful rocket of all time. Designed and manufactured by SpaceX, Falcon 9 was built as a reusable two-stage rocket capable of safely transporting people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Reusability is a key factor in its design, a way to drive down the cost of space access and make us an interplanetary civilization.
Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, SpaceX Falcon rockets are USA manufactured with state-of-the-art production, testing, facilities in southern California and Central Texas and launch, and operations facilities in California and Florida. The company’s lean business processes, low-infrastructure facilities with little overhead, and a tight critical feedback loop, are the key to the fast production of high-quality and reliable launch vehicles.
In 2006, SpaceX had its first successful Falcon 1 launch, reaching orbit successfully just two years later, during its fourth attempt. Fast forward to 2010, SpaceX launched Falcon 9, which got its name from the number of Merlin engines powering the rocket. But it was not until 2015, during its 20th launch, that the Falcon 9 first-stage successfully returned to Earth at Cape Canaveral, Fl. While perfecting the first-stage landings, SpaceX used a drone ship called “Of Course I Still Love You." The first successful landing attempt on “Of Course I Still Love You” happened on its 23rd flight. This first stage was then reused in 2017, making it the first orbital booster to be reused. Since then and until 2019, only two other recovery attempts failed, while many were not even attempted due to the mission’s orbit requirements that exhausted all the available fuel. As of today, Falcon 9 has had 201 total launches and 159 first-stage total landings, with 137 reused in other flights.
Falcon 9, considered a medium-lift rocket, also offers small and microsatellite capabilities via its “Ride Share Program,” which has a lower cost per payload. At the end of 2022, the cost of a full payload of up to 5.5 metric tons to a Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) had a $67 million price tag [1]. However, Falcon9 has the capability to take payloads to a range of low Earth orbits and a range of GTOs. Falcon 9 can also reach other high-altitude orbits and a range of Earth escape orbits.
SpaceX opened a door to space, now we can focus on designing new space-based missions, thinking about where to go and what to build in places outside our planet. The dream of “The Future” is a dream no more.
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Photo: SpaceFlight Insider