SpaceX builds launch vehicles to support its launch provider services and achieve its varied exploration objectives. SpaceX presently produces and operates the Falcon 9 Full Thrust medium-lift launch vehicle and the Falcon Heavy heavy-lift launch vehicle, both of which are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines and reuse the first stage using VTVL technology. The corporation is also working on a fully reusable Starship launch system, which will take the place of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy by 2020.
The Falcon 1, SpaceX’s initial launch vehicle, was the first privately constructed liquid fuel launch vehicle to reach orbit, and it used Merlin and Kestrel engines for its first and second stages, respectively. Between 2006 and 2009, it was launched five times from Omelek Island; the Falcon 1e and Falcon 5 versions were proposed but never developed. The Falcon 9 v1.0 was built as part of the US Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle programme and NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme, and has updated Merlin engines on both stages. It was initially launched in 2010 from Cape Canaveral and was superseded in 2013 by the Falcon 9 v1.1 series, which was also launched from Vandenberg. In 2015 and 2018, the Falcon 9 Full Thrust and Falcon Heavy versions were introduced, and both are launched from Kennedy, as well as Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg.
Vehicles currently in use for launch
Falcon Heavy
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy (FH) is a super-heavy-lift space launch vehicle that was conceived and built by the company. The Falcon Heavy is a launch vehicle that consists of three Falcon 9 first stages: a strengthened central core and two extra side boosters. Although expendable flights are feasible to improve cargo capacity, all three boosters are meant to be recovered and reused. The Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight’s side boosters were recovered from two previous Falcon 9 missions. On February 6, 2018, SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon Heavy, transporting a payload including Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster to a Mars orbital trajectory.
Falcon 9 “Full Thrust”
The Falcon 9 “Full Thrust” variant is an improved version of the Falcon 9 v1.1. It was first utilised on December 22, 2015, during the launch of ORBCOMM-2 from the SLC-40 launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
To allow a bigger amount of fuel in the same tank space, the first stage was updated with a larger liquid oxygen tank filled with subcooled propellants. The second stage was also expanded to accommodate a larger fuel tank. The prior rocket performance was improved by 33% as a result of these changes. Only Falcon 9 Block 5 is still operational, out of five sub-variants that have been flown.
Retired Vehicles
Falcon 1
The Falcon 1 is a tiny, partially reusable rocket capable of launching hundreds of kilos into low-earth orbit. It also served as a development platform for Falcon 9 concepts and components. The initial Falcon 1 flights were place from the US government’s Reagan Test Site on the Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein island atoll, and were the first ground-launched rockets to reach orbit from that location.
The Falcon 1’s inaugural flight on March 26, 2006, was cut short seconds after leaving the pad due to a fuel line burst. After a year, the second flight took place on March 22, 2007, however it was also a failure owing to a spin stabilisation issue that forced sensors to turn off the Merlin 2nd-stage engine automatically. The third Falcon 1 flight featured a novel regenerative cooling system for the first-stage Merlin engine, which contributed to the nearly 17-month flying delay.The Falcon 1 rocket reached orbit on its fourth try on September 28, 2008, becoming the first privately funded, liquid-fueled rocket to do so. On its fifth flight, the Falcon 1 delivered its first and only successful commercial cargo into orbit on July 13, 2009. The Falcon 1 has not been launched since 2009, and SpaceX is no longer accepting Falcon 1 launch bookings in order to focus company resources on the bigger Falcon 9 launch vehicle and other development projects.
Falcon 9 v1.0
Falcon 9 v1.0, the initial version of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, was developed from 2005 to 2010 and launched for the first time in 2010. Falcon 9 v1.0 flew five times between 2010 and 2013, after which it was decommissioned.
Falcon 9 v1.1
SpaceX announced the creation of the Falcon 9 rocket on September 8, 2005, using nine Merlin engines in its first stage. The vehicle is an EELV-class vehicle that will compete with the Delta IV and Atlas V launchers, as well as launchers from other countries. Both stages were made to be re-used. A Falcon 5 rocket with a similar design was also planned to slot between the Falcon 1 and the Falcon 9, but development was halted to focus on the Falcon 9.
Grasshopper
Grasshopper was a vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rocket that was used as a technology demonstrator for a suborbital reusable launch vehicle (RLV). [24] Between September 2012 and October 2013, the first VTVL flight test vehicle, Grasshopper, which was based on a Falcon 9 v1.0 first-stage tank, flew eight times. The test site in McGregor, Texas, was responsible for all eight flights. The Grasshopper test vehicle is now retired.
