List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches

Maiden launch

The Falcon 9 maiden launch occurred on June 4, 2010 and was deemed a success, placing the test payload within 1 percent of the intended orbit. The second stage engine performed a short second burn to demonstrate its multiple firing capability.

The rocket experienced "a little bit of roll at liftoff" as Ken Bowersox from SpaceX put it. This roll had stopped prior to the craft reaching the top of the tower. The second stage began to slowly roll near the end of its burn, which was not expected.

The halo from the venting of propellant from the Falcon 9 second stage as it rolled in space could be seen from all of Eastern Australia where some believed it to be a UFO.

COTS demo missions

The second launch of Falcon 9 was called COTS Demo Flight 1, aiming to test an operational Dragon capsule. The launch took place on December 8, 2010. The booster placed the Dragon spacecraft in a roughly 300-kilometer (190 mi) orbit. After two orbits, the capsule re-entered the atmosphere to be recovered off the coast of Mexico. This flight tested the pressure vessel integrity, attitude control using the Draco thrusters, telemetry, guidance, navigation, control systems, the PICA-X heat shield, and parachutes at speed. The "secret" test payload on this mission was a wheel of cheese.

The NASA COTS qualification program included two more test flights Demo 2 and Demo 3 whose objectives were combined into a single Dragon C2+ mission, on condition that all Demo 2 milestones would be validated in space before proceeding with the ultimate demonstration goal: berthing Dragon to the International Space Station and delivering its cargo. After clearing a few readiness delays and a launch abort, the Dragon capsule was propelled to orbit on May 22, 2012 and tested its positioning system, solar panels, grapple fixture and proximity navigation sensors. Over the next two days, the spacecraft performed a series of maneuvers to catch up to the ISS orbit and prove its rendezvous capabilities at safe distances. On May 24, all the Demo 2 milestones had been successfully cleared and NASA approved the extended mission. On May 25, Dragon performed a series of close approach maneuvers until reaching its final hold position a mere 9 meters away from the Harmony nadir docking port. Astronaut Don Pettit subsequently grabbed the spacecraft with the station's robotic arm. On the next day, May 26 at 09:53 UTC, Pettit opened the hatch and remarked that Dragon "smells like a brand new car." Over the next few days, ISS crew unloaded the incoming cargo and filled Dragon with Earth-bound items such as experiment samples and unneeded hardware. The spacecraft was released on May 31 at 09:49 UTC and successfully completed all the return procedures: unberthing, maneuvering away from the ISS, deorbit burn, trunk jettison, atmospheric reentry, parachute deployment and ocean splashdown.

With successful completion of these demo missions, Falcon 9 became the first fully commercially developed launcher to deliver a payload to the International Space Station, paving the way for SpaceX and NASA to sign the first Commercial Resupply Services agreement for 12 cargo deliveries starting in October 2012. The historic Dragon C2+ capsule is now on display hanging from the ceiling at SpaceX headquarters.

CRS-1

The first operational cargo resupply mission to ISS was launched on October 7, 2012 at 8:35 PM EST. At 76 seconds after liftoff, engine 1 of the first stage suffered a loss of pressure which caused an automatic shutdown of that engine. The remaining eight first-stage engines continued to burn and the Dragon capsule reached orbit successfully. This was the first demonstration of SpaceX Falcon 9 "engine out" capability in flight.

Due to safety regulations required by NASA, the secondary Orbcomm-2 satellite payload was released into a lower-than-intended orbit, and subsequently declared a total loss. NASA requires a greater-than-99% estimated probability that the stage of any secondary payload on a similar orbital inclination to the Station will reach its orbital goal above the station. Due to the original engine failure, the Falcon 9 used more fuel than intended, bringing this estimate down to around 95%. Because of this, the second stage did not attempt another burn, and Orbcomm-G2 was deployed into a rapidly decaying orbit and burned up in Earth's atmosphere within 4 days after the launch. The mission continued to rendezvous and berth the Dragon capsule with the ISS where the ISS crew unloaded its payload and reloaded it with cargo for return to Earth.

Maiden flight of Falcon 9 v1.1

SpaceX launched the maiden flight of the Falcon 9 v1.1—an essentially new launch vehicle, much larger and with greater thrust than Falcon 9 v1.0—on September 29, 2013, a demonstration launch. Although the rocket carried CASSIOPE as a primary payload, CASSIOPE had a payload mass that is very small relative to the rocket's capability, and it did so at a discounted rate—approximately 20% of the normal published price for SpaceX Falcon 9 LEO missions—because the flight was a technology demonstration mission for SpaceX.

After the second stage separated from the booster stage, SpaceX conducted a novel high-altitude, high-velocity flight test, wherein the booster attempted to reenter the lower atmosphere in a controlled manner and decelerate to a simulated over-water landing. The test was successful, but the booster stage was not recovered.

Loss of CRS-7 mission

On June 28, 2015, Falcon 9 Flight 19 carried a Dragon capsule on the seventh Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station. The second stage disintegrated due to an internal helium tank failure while the first stage was still burning normally. This was the first mission loss for any Falcon 9 rocket. In addition to ISS consumables and experiments, this mission carried the first International Docking Adapter (IDA-1), whose loss delayed preparedness of the stations's US Orbital Segment for future crewed missions.

Performance was nominal until T+140 seconds into launch when a cloud of white vapor appeared, followed by rapid loss of second-stage LOX tank pressure. The booster continued on its trajectory until complete vehicle breakup at T+150 seconds. The Dragon capsule was ejected from the disintegrating rocket and continued transmitting data until impact with the ocean. SpaceX officials stated that the capsule could have been recovered if the parachutes had deployed; however, the Dragon software did not include any provisions for parachute deployment in this situation. Subsequent investigation traced cause of the accident to the failure of a strut which secured a helium bottle inside the second-stage LOX tank. With the helium pressurization system integrity breached, excess helium quickly flooded the tank, eventually causing it to burst from overpressure.

Full-thrust version and first booster landing

On December 22, 2015, SpaceX launched the highly anticipated return-to-flight mission after the loss of CRS-7, inaugurating a new Falcon 9 Full Thrust version of its flagship rocket featuring increased performance, notably thanks to subcooling of the propellants. This first mission of the upgraded vehicle launched a constellation of 11 Orbcomm-OG2 second-generation satellites. Performing a controlled-descent and landing test for the 8th time, SpaceX managed to return the first stage successfully to the Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral, marking the first successful recovery of a rocket first stage that launched a payload to orbit.

First landings on drone ship

On April 8, 2016, SpaceX launched its eighth commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. After completing its part of the mission, the first stage booster slowed itself with a boostback maneuver, re-entered the atmosphere, executed an automated controlled descent and landed vertically onto the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, marking the first successful landing of a rocket on a ship at sea. This was the fourth attempt to land on a SpaceX drone ship, as part of the company's experimental controlled-descent and landing tests. This also marked the return-to-flight of the Dragon capsule, after the loss of CRS-7.

On May 6, 2016, SpaceX launched its JCSAT-14 mission, a geostationary communications satellite operating over Asia. Eight minutes and forty seconds into the flight, the first stage re-entered Earth's atmosphere at twice the speed of their first success, and hence four times the kinetic energy to dissipate (eight times as much heating). The stage successfully landed on the drone ship a few hundred miles off the coast of Florida.

Loss of Amos-6 on the launch pad

On September 1, 2016, the 29th Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launchpad while propellant was being loaded for a routine pre-launch static fire test. The payload, Israeli satellite Amos-6, partly commissioned by Facebook, was destroyed with the launcher.

Launch statistics

Rockets from the Falcon 9 family have been launched 30 times over 6 years, resulting in 28 full mission successes, one partial success (with primary orbital payload delivery completed, but a secondary payload left in a lower-than-planned orbit), and one failure (with total loss of spacecraft). Additionally, one rocket and payload were destroyed before launch in preparation for an on-pad static fire test. This yields a reliability record of 7001940000000000000♠94% of contracted primary missions. Eight of thirteen landing attempts (7001620000000000000♠62%) have succeeded in recovering the rocket's first stage.

The first rocket version Falcon 9 v1.0 was launched five times from June 2010 to March 2013, its successor Falcon 9 v1.1 fifteen times from September 2013 to January 2016 and the latest upgrade Falcon 9 Full Thrust ten times from December 2015 to present.

Future launches

Future launches are listed chronologically when firm planning dates are in place, and reliably sourced. The order of the later launches is much less certain, as the official SpaceX manifest does not include a schedule. Tentative launch dates are picked from from individual sources for each launch. Launches are expected to take place "no earlier than" (NET) the listed date.

Financial documents analyzed by The Wall Street Journal indicate an expected 27 missions in 2017, ramping up to one flight per week in 2019. Gwynne Shotwell confirmed in January 2017 that she "hopes to launch at least 20 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets this year". Repairs and modernization of the SLC-40 launch pad are underway with a return to service planned for August 2017, thus doubling the company's launch capabilities from the East Coast.

Heavy payloads launched from the end of 2017 are expected to use the Falcon Heavy or the Falcon 9 Block 5 with its improved performance and ease of reusability.