Falcon 9 Full Thrust

Falcon 9 Full Thrust

Launch of the first Falcon 9 Full Thrust flight, Falcon 9 Flight 20, carrying 11 Orbcomm satellites to orbit. The first stage was recovered at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station LZ-1 following the first successful Falcon 9 landing.
Function	Partially reusable orbital medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	$62M (2016),[1] $50M (Reusable, 2018)[2]
Size
Height	71 m (233 ft) with payload fairing[3]
Diameter	3.66 m (12.0 ft)[4]
Mass	549,000 kg (1,210,000 lb)[4]
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO (28.5°)
Mass	Expendable: 22,800 kg (50,300 lb)[1] Reusable: 18,500 kg (40,800 lb)[5] when landing on ASDS
Payload to GTO (27°)
Mass	Expendable: 8,300 kg (18,300 lb)[1] Reusable: 7,000 kg (15,000 lb)[6]
Payload to Mars
Mass	4,020 kg (8,860 lb)[1]
Associated rockets
Family	Falcon 9
Derivative work	Falcon Heavy
Comparable	Atlas V 541 H-IIB Long March 3B/E Proton-M Ariane 5 ES
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral SLC-40 Vandenberg SLC-4E Kennedy LC-39A
Total launches	308[7]
Success(es)	308
Notable outcome(s)	1 (destroyed before launch)
Landings	286 / 292 attempts
First flight	22 December 2015
Last flight	Active
Type of passengers/cargo	Dragon capsule Dragon Crew capsule Iridium NEXT fleet Zuma Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle TESS Beresheet lander Starlink RADARSAT Constellation Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich
First stage
Powered by	9 Merlin 1D
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 7,607 kN (1,710,000 lbf)[4] Vacuum: 8,227 kN (1,850,000 lbf)[4]
Specific impulse	Sea level: 282 seconds[8][needs update] Vacuum: 311 seconds[8][needs update]
Burn time	162 seconds[4]
Propellant	Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1[9]
Second (Large Nozzle)[a] stage
Powered by	1 Merlin 1D Vacuum
Maximum thrust	934 kN (210,000 lbf)[4]
Specific impulse	348 seconds[4]
Burn time	397 seconds[4]
Propellant	LOX / RP-1
Second (Short Nozzle)[a][11] stage
Powered by	1 Merlin 1D Vacuum
Maximum thrust	~840.6 kN (85.72 tf; 189,000 lbf)[4]
Specific impulse	348 seconds[4]
Burn time	397 seconds[4]
Propellant	LOX / RP-1
[edit on Wikidata]

Falcon 9 Full Thrust (also known as Falcon 9 v1.2, with variants Block 1 to Block 5) is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. It was first designed in 2014–2015, with its first launch operations in December 2015. As of 28 April 2024, Falcon 9 Full Thrust had performed 308 launches without any failures. Based on the Laplace point estimate of reliability,^{[definition needed]} this rocket is the most reliable orbital launch vehicle in operation.^[12]

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.^[13][14] 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.^[15]

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