Function | Partially reusable orbital medium-lift launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Country of origin | United States |
Cost per launch | |
Size | |
Diameter | 3.7 m (12 ft)[4] |
Mass | 549,000 kg (1,210,000 lb)[4] |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO (28.5°) | |
Mass | |
Payload to GTO (27°) | |
Mass | |
Payload to TMI | |
Mass | 4,020 kg (8,860 lb)[1] |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Falcon 9 |
Based on | Falcon 9 v1.1 |
Derivative work | Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy |
Comparable | |
Launch history | |
Status | Active |
Launch sites | |
Total launches | 334[7] |
Success(es) | 333 |
Failure(s) | 1 |
Notable outcome(s) | 1 (destroyed before launch) |
Landings | 314 / 320 attempts |
First flight | 22 December 2015 |
Last flight | Active |
Type of passengers/cargo |
|
First stage | |
Powered by | 9 × Merlin 1D |
Maximum thrust | |
Specific impulse |
|
Burn time | 162 seconds[4] |
Propellant | LOX / RP-1 |
Second (Large Nozzle)[a] stage | |
Powered by | 1 × Merlin 1D Vacuum |
Maximum thrust | 934 kN (210,000 lbf)[4] |
Specific impulse | 348 s (3.41 km/s)[4] |
Burn time | 397 seconds[4] |
Propellant | LOX / RP-1 |
Second (Short Nozzle)[a][10] stage | |
Powered by | 1 × Merlin 1D Vacuum |
Maximum thrust | ~840.6 kN (85.72 tf; 189,000 lbf)[4] |
Specific impulse | 348 s (3.41 km/s)[4] |
Burn time | 397 seconds[4] |
Propellant | LOX / RP-1 |
Falcon 9 Full Thrust (also known as Falcon 9 v1.2) is a partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. It is the third major version of the Falcon 9 family, designed starting in 2014, with its first launch operations in December 2015. It was later refined into the Block 4 and Block 5. As of 12 July 2024, all variants of the Falcon 9 Full Thrust (including Block 4 and 5) had performed 334 launches with only one failure of Starlink Group 9-3. Based on the Laplace point estimate of reliability,[definition needed] this rocket is the most reliable orbital launch vehicle in operation.[11]
On December 22, 2015, the Full Thrust version of the Falcon 9 family was the first launch vehicle on an orbital trajectory to successfully vertically land a first stage. The landing followed a technology development program conducted from 2013 to 2015. Some of the required technology advances, such as landing legs, were pioneered on the Falcon 9 v1.1 version, but that version never landed intact. Starting in 2017, previously flown first-stage boosters were reused to launch new payloads into orbit.[12][13] This quickly became routine, in 2018 and in 2019 more than half of all Falcon 9 flights reused a booster. In 2020 the fraction of reused boosters increased to 81%.
Falcon 9 Full Thrust is a substantial upgrade over the previous Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, which flew its last mission in January 2016. With uprated first- and second-stage engines, a larger second-stage propellant tank, and propellant densification, the vehicle can carry substantial payloads to geostationary orbit and perform a propulsive landing for recovery.[14]
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