Falcon 9

FIRST ORBITAL CLASS ROCKET CAPABLE OF REFLIGHT

0

Total Launches

0

Total Landings

0

Total Reflights

Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.

FALCON 9

OVERVIEW

HEIGHT

70 m

/ 229.6 ft

DIAMETER

3.7 m

/ 12 ft

MASS

549,054 kg

/ 1,207,920 lb

PAYLOAD TO LEO

22,800 kg

/ 50,265 lb

PAYLOAD TO GTO

8,300 kg

/ 18,300 lb

PAYLOAD TO MARS

4,020 kg

/ 8,860 lb

FALCON 9

FIRST STAGE

OVERVIEW
ENGINES
LANDING LEGS

Falcon 9’s first stage incorporates nine Merlin engines and aluminum-lithium alloy tanks containing liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellant.

Falcon 9 generates more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust at sea level.

FALCON 9

SECOND STAGE

The second stage, powered by a single Merlin Vacuum Engine, delivers Falcon 9’s payload to the desired orbit. The second stage engine ignites a few seconds after stage separation, and can be restarted multiple times to place multiple payloads into different orbits.

NUMBER OF ENGINES

1 vacuum

BURN TIME

397 sec

THRUST

981 kN

/ 220,500 lbf

FALCON 9

INTERSTAGE

The interstage is a composite structure that connects the first and second stages, and houses the pneumatic pushers that allow the first and second stage to separate during flight.

GRID FINS

Falcon 9 is equipped with four hypersonic grid fins positioned at the base of the interstage. They orient the rocket during reentry by moving the center of pressure.

FALCON 9

PAYLOAD

FAIRING
DRAGON

Made of a carbon composite material, the fairing protects satellites on their way to orbit. The fairing is jettisoned approximately 3 minutes into flight, and SpaceX continues to recover fairings for reuse on future missions.

HEIGHT

13.1m

/43 ft

DIAMETER

5.2 m

/ 17.1 ft

►

VIDEO

FALCON 9 IN FLIGHT

ENGINES

MERLIN

SEA LEVEL
VACUUM

Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Merlin engines use a rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was originally designed for recovery and reuse.

PROPELLANT

LOX

/ RP-1

THRUST

845 kN

/ 190,000 lbf

Falcon 9 leaves a trail of light as it lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base

Falcon 9 launches Dragon to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A

Falcon 9 first and second stages after separating in flight

Falcon 9 lifts off with its Iridium-5 payload

Falcon 9 lands on the droneship Just Read the Instructions

Falcon 9 leaves a trail of light as it lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base

Falcon 9 launches Dragon to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A

For information about our launch services, contact sales@spacex.com

DOWNLOAD USER'S GUIDE
CAPABILITIES AND SERVICES