Falcon 9 Full Thrust
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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.
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| 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°) |
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| Payload to GTO (27°) |
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| Payload to Mars | 4,020 kg (8,860 lb) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Falcon 9 |
| Derivatives | Falcon Heavy |
| Comparable | |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | |
| 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 |
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| 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.
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