Falcon 9Block 5 / launch vehicle
sourcingtypical 4/5 · 16 factsmedium-lift launch vehicleUSAreusableactive
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.
key details
payload to LEO //22,800 kg
payload to GTO //8,300 kg
height //70 m
price per launch //$52,000,000
flight record //627 / 628 (99.8% success)
figures describe the Block 5 configuration where sourced
positioning
MCC READ
Falcon 9 is the industry's metronome: 604 flights and 603 successes per Launch Library, with reused boosters setting the price floor everyone else quotes against. Its weakness is systemic: when one design carries most of the world's manifest, a single stand-down stalls everyone's schedule.
faq
Who builds Falcon 9?
Falcon 9 is built by SpaceX. (source, as of 2026-07-05)
How many times has Falcon 9 flown?
Falcon 9 has flown 628 times. (source, as of 2026-09-03)
When did Falcon 9 first fly?
Falcon 9 first flew on 2018-05-11. (source, as of 2026-07-05)
Is Falcon 9 reusable?
Falcon 9 is reusable. (source, as of 2026-07-05)
facts
providerSpaceX
countryUSA
classmedium-lift launch vehicle
payload to LEO (kg)22800
reusableyes
first flight2018-05-11
flights total628
flights successful627
last flight2026-08-22
next flight2026-09-10
statusactive
price per launch (USD)52000000
payload to GTO (kg)8300
height (m)70
diameter (m)3.65
mass (kg)549000
events
- noise2026-09-07Austrian Airlines flies first Starlink-equipped aircraft, to Porto
- noise2026-09-06SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on booster B1088's 19th flight
- notable2026-09-03SpaceX urges FCC to sunset $4.5 billion rural broadband fund
- major2026-09-024iG signs SpaceX's first European Starlink Mobile agreements
- notable2026-09-02Oppenheimer raises SpaceX price target to $280 on AI infrastructure bet
- noise2026-09-02SAS completes Starlink installation across its A320neo fleet
- noise2026-09-02SpaceX flies Falcon 9 booster B1063 a 35th time on Starlink launch
- notable2026-09-01SpaceX tells FCC Starship Flight 14 will attempt first orbital insertion
- notable2026-08-31SpaceX asks FCC to block or restrict Viasat's Viasat-3 F2 satellite
- major2026-08-30SpaceX launches NASA's $4.3 billion Roman Space Telescope
- noise2026-08-29NASA and SpaceX delay Crew-13 launch after Dragon oxidizer leak
- notable2026-08-29SpaceX pledges $220M for Brownsville water infrastructure, gains control of 444 acres
- notable2026-08-28SpaceX asks FCC to scrutinize Iridium's conduct in Rocket Lab merger review
- major2026-08-28UAE regulator grants Starlink 10-year satellite internet license
- noise2026-08-27SpaceX offers 50% Starlink discount to Vermilion Parish residents
- notable2026-08-26Ukraine awards Musk Order of Freedom, presses for wider Starlink access
- notable2026-08-25SpaceX flies Falcon 9 booster B1067 a record 37th time, ends Florida Starlink launches
- major2026-08-25SpaceX confirms $100 billion Starbase Louisiana spaceport
- notable2026-08-24Iran reports 163 arrests, nearly 1,000 Starlink devices seized in four months
- notable2026-08-20Portal Space Systems buys dedicated Falcon 9 for Supernova debut
- noise2026-08-20Qatar Airways reaches 150 Starlink-equipped widebody aircraft
- notable2026-08-20Starlink reapplies for India Gen 2 satellite constellation approval
- notable2026-08-19Speedcast deploys all-LEO Starlink connectivity across TGS survey fleet
- notable2026-08-15SpaceX breaks Falcon 9 launch-cadence record with 38-minute doubleheader
- major2026-08-14Airtel launches Africa's first commercial Starlink satellite-to-mobile service
- notable2026-08-13Starlink starts taking orders in Vietnam under a 600,000-subscriber cap
- notable2026-08-12Texas broadband office pauses BEAD fund disbursements amid Starlink favoritism claims
- noise2026-08-11SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
- notable2026-08-11SpaceX reverses Starlink's Poland roaming exclusion after backlash
- notable2026-08-11VinSpace signs SpaceX launch deal for Vietnam's first satellites
- noise2026-08-08SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg, booster's 16th flight
- notable2026-08-06FCC votes to open unlicensed spectrum for direct-to-device satellite links
- notable2026-08-06Redwire's SpaceMD books dedicated SpaceX Starfall mission for 2028
- major2026-08-06SpaceX and Tesla to spend $16.8 billion on Terafab chip plant in Texas
- noise2026-08-05AST SpaceMobile launches BlueBird 11-13 on Falcon 9 for direct-to-cell network
- noise2026-08-05SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage strikes Moon near Einstein crater
- notable2026-08-04Royal Air Maroc signs Starlink deal for fleetwide in-flight Wi-Fi
- noise2026-08-04SpaceX swaps Cybertrucks in for MRAPs as Crew-13 pad rescue vehicles
- major2026-08-04SpaceX commits exclusively to Nvidia GPUs for Starmind orbital AI satellites
- notable2026-08-03SpaceX nears deal for 130,000-acre Louisiana spaceport site
- notable2026-07-31NASA completes Super Heavy V3 wind tunnel tests for Artemis III
- noise2026-07-31SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites, lands booster's 26th flight
- noise2026-07-30SpaceX launches NROL-95 mission for National Reconnaissance Office
- major2026-07-29SpaceX wins $1.6 billion Space Force order for 18 Falcon 9 launches
- notable2026-07-28FAA proposes waiving 13 environmental laws for launch and reentry licensing
- major2026-07-27SpaceX wins FCC exemption for Starlink routers from foreign-router ban
- noise2026-07-24SpaceX Starlink satellite's reentry produces widely seen fireball over Netherlands
- major2026-07-21Taiwan's Legislative Yuan exempts satellite operators from foreign-ownership caps
- notable2026-07-20SpaceX aborts Falcon 9 Starlink launch after engine ignition at Vandenberg
- notable2026-07-17Space Force triples NSSL Lane 1 launch contract ceiling to $17 billion
- notable2026-07-17SpaceX in early talks to supply Pentagon AI computing power
- notable2026-07-16NASA taps SpaceX Starlink lasers to relay Artemis III imagery from Orion
- notable2026-07-16SpaceX launches 21 York-built satellites for SDA's Tranche 1 network
- notable2026-07-16SpaceX flies Starship Flight 13, deploys first V3 Starlink satellites
- notable2026-07-14Nicholas Air CEO calls Starlink's price doubling 'reckless'
- notable2026-07-14Evercore ISI initiates SpaceX at Outperform with $230 price target
- notable2026-07-14FAA finalizes environmental review for expanded SpaceX Starship reentry zones
- notable2026-07-14Frontier picks Starlink Wi-Fi for over 1,000 Indigo Partners aircraft
- major2026-07-14SpaceX launches Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle to extend satellite life
- notable2026-07-14SpaceX flies a flight-proven Falcon booster for the 600th time
- noise2026-07-14SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg
- noise2026-07-14SpaceX ships smaller, more power-efficient Starlink V5 dish
- notable2026-07-13FAA closes Starship Flight 12 mishap investigation, clears Flight 13
- notable2026-07-13NASA moves SunRISE mission from ULA Vulcan to SpaceX Falcon Heavy
- noise2026-07-11SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg on booster B1071's 35th flight
- noise2026-07-09SpaceX flies Falcon 9 booster B1067 for a record 36th time on Starlink 10-42
- notable2026-07-08Earthjustice petitions FCC to pause orbital data center licensing
- notable2026-07-08ispace books 500 kg of SpaceX Starship lunar cargo space
- notable2026-07-07Rocket Lab CFO says 'panic' setting in over Falcon 9 rideshare access
- notable2026-07-07SpaceX joins the Nasdaq-100 weeks after its Nasdaq IPO
- notable2026-07-07SpaceX doubles Starlink Aviation prices, raises hardware cost to $200,000
- notable2026-07-07Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs split on SpaceX price target
- notable2026-07-02GAO flags cost overruns, schedule risk in Space Force satellites
- notable2026-06-30SpaceX asks FCC to license 100,000-satellite Gen3 fleet
- notable2026-06-26SpaceX confirms Starlink Mobile terrestrial network plan on earnings call
- major2026-06-25SpaceX stops booking Falcon 9 rideshare missions past late 2028
- noise2026-06-24SpaceX names its orbital AI compute megaconstellation Starmind
- major2026-06-23SpaceX prices $25 billion inaugural bond offering across five tranches
- notable2026-06-23SpaceX flies first Starfall reentry capsule on a secretive Falcon 9 demo mission
- noise2026-06-19SpaceX launches NROL-179 reconnaissance mission on Falcon 9 from Vandenberg
- notable2026-06-19SpaceX beach closures at Boca Chica survive as Texas Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit
- noise2026-06-17AST SpaceMobile puts BlueBirds 8, 9 and 10 in orbit on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral
- major2026-06-16SpaceX closes $60 billion all-stock acquisition of Cursor maker Anysphere
- seismic2026-06-12SpaceX goes public on Nasdaq, raising $75 billion in the largest IPO on record
- notable2026-06-11Starlink wins $8.2 million Louisiana BEAD grant for 10,635 rural locations
- notable2026-06-10SpaceX Starbase land swap challenged in federal court by conservation groups and tribe
- noise2026-06-08SpaceX flies Falcon 9 booster B1067 for a record 35th time on Starlink 10-35
- major2026-05-29SpaceX wins $4.16 billion Space Force airborne-tracking satellite contract
- major2026-05-26SpaceX wins $2.29 billion Space Force contract for data network backbone
- major2026-05-12FCC approves SpaceX's spectrum purchase from EchoStar
timeline
- 20242024-07-12incidentStarlink Group 9-3 launch failureoutcome: Launch Failurecause: An oxygen leak caused a failure of the second stage engine during its second burn leading to the loss of all Starlink satellites. (source, as of 2026-07-08)
- 20202020-05-30Falcon 9 launches Crew Dragon Demo-2, the first crewed orbital flight from the US since 2011 (source, as of 2026-07-12)
- 20172017-03-30SpaceX flies first reused Falcon 9 booster on SES-10 (per SpaceNews) (source, as of 2026-07-12)
- 20152015-12-21Falcon 9 lands its first stage for the first time after an orbital launch (per SpaceNews) (source, as of 2026-07-12)
- 2015-06-28Falcon 9 is lost carrying CRS-7, NASA's Bolden confirms the failure (source, as of 2026-07-12)
- 20122012-10-07Falcon 9 launches CRS-1, NASA's first contracted cargo resupply mission to the ISS (source, as of 2026-07-12)
- 20102010-06-04Falcon 9 launches maiden flight from Cape Canaveral (source, as of 2026-07-12)
sources
[1] ll.thespacedevs.com ↗
provider2026-07-05country2026-07-05payload to LEO (kg)2026-07-05reusable2026-07-05first flight2026-07-05flights total2026-09-03flights successful2026-09-03last flight2026-08-24next flight2026-09-07status2026-07-05price per launch (USD)2026-07-05payload to GTO (kg)2026-07-08height (m)2026-07-08diameter (m)2026-07-08mass (kg)2026-07-08
[2] en.wikipedia.org ↗
classwikipedia2026-07-05