Falcon 9 FT

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	Orbital medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	$62M for up to 5,500 kg (12,100 lb) to GTO
Size
Height	70 m (230 ft) with payload fairing
Diameter	3.66 m (12.0 ft)
Mass	549,054 kg (1,210,457 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO (28.5°)	Expendable: 22,800 kg (50,300 lb) PAF structural limitation: 10,886 kg (24,000 lb)
Payload to GTO (27°)	Expendable: 8,300 kg (18,300 lb)
Payload to Mars	4,020 kg (8,860 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Falcon 9
Derivatives	Falcon Heavy
Comparable	Atlas V 541 H-IIB Proton-M Ariane 5 ES
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral SLC-40 (out of order) Vandenberg SLC-4E Kennedy LC-39A
Total launches	10
Successes	10
Failures	1 (destroyed before launch)
Landings	8 / 10 attempts
First flight	22 December 2015
Last flight	19 February 2017
Notable payloads	Dragon capsule Orbcomm OG2 Iridium NEXT fleet
First stage
Engines	9 Merlin 1D
Thrust	Sea level: 7,607 kN (1,710,000 lbf) Vacuum: 8,227 kN (1,850,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 282 seconds Vacuum: 311 seconds
Burn time	162 seconds
Fuel	Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1
Second stage
Engines	1 Merlin 1D Vacuum
Thrust	934 kN (210,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	348 seconds
Burn time	397 seconds
Fuel	LOX / RP-1

Falcon 9 Full Thrust—also known as Falcon 9 v1.2 —is the third version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. Designed in 2014–2015, it began launch operations in December 2015. Over 50 launches are planned for it over the years 2017–2019.

In December 2015, the Full Thrust version of the Falcon 9 was the first launch vehicle on an orbital trajectory to successfully vertically-land a first stage and recover the rocket, following an extensive technology development program in 2011–2015 that had developed some of the technology on Falcon 9 v1.0 and Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle first stages.

Falcon 9 Full Thrust is a substantial upgrade over the older Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, which flew its last mission in January 2016. With uprated first- and second-stage engines, larger second-stage propellant tank, and propellant densification, the vehicle can carry substantial payloads to geostationary orbit and perform a propulsive landing for recovery.

As early as March 2014, SpaceX pricing and payload specifications published for the expendable Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket actually included about 30 percent more performance than the published price list indicated. At that time, the additional performance was reserved for SpaceX to conduct reusability testing with the Falcon 9 v1.1 while still achieving the specified payloads for customers. Many engineering changes to support reusability and recovery of the first stage had been made on this earlier v1.1 version. SpaceX indicated they had room to increase the payload performance for the Falcon 9 Full Thrust, or decrease launch price, or both.