The heaviest GTO payloads flown have been Intelsat 35e with 6,761 kg (14,905 lb), and Telstar 19V with 7,075 kg (15,598 lb). Since then, SpaceX has successfully landed boosters dozens of times, with individual first stages flying as many as ten times.įalcon 9 can lift payloads of up to 22,800 kilograms (50,300 lb) to low Earth orbit (LEO), 8,300 kg (18,300 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) when expended, and 5,500 kg (12,100 lb) to GTO when the first stage is recovered, in a cargo shroud offering 145 cubic meters of volume. This feat was achieved for the first time on flight 20 in December 2015.
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Unlike most rockets in service, which are expendable launch systems, since the introduction of the Full Thrust version, Falcon 9 is partially reusable, with the first stage capable of re-entering the atmosphere and landing vertically after separating from the second stage. The rocket evolved with versions v1.0 (2010–2013), v1.1 (2013–2016), v1.2 Full Thrust (2015–present), including the Block 5 Full Thrust variant, flying since May 2018. Its name is derived from the fictional Star Wars spacecraft, the Millennium Falcon, and the nine Merlin engines of the rocket's first stage. Both the first and second stages are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines, using cryogenic liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene ( RP-1) as propellants.
The latest version of the first stage can return to Earth and be flown again multiple times.
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable two-stage-to-orbit medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX in the United States.