News Updates for SpaceX Falcon 9

*** For an up to date list of Falcon 9 boosters and missions, visit the Wikipedia Website at....view.

December 2020
21st: The first ever landing of an orbital class rocket booster was five years ago today on the Orbcomm OG2 mission....view. The booster, B1019, after reaching apogee manoeuvered back to land at Landing Zone 1 (LZ1) at Cape Canerveral. It was a Full Thrust version of the rocket, an earlier version designed to fly only a couple of times. B1019 only flew the once; it was retired after it's pioneering flight.
19th: SLC-39A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The NROL-108 satellite launch was completed successfully with the booster carrying out a boostback burn to land back at Landing Zone 1 (LZ1) at Cape Canaveral for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1059, flew on four previous missions. It first flew in December 2019 on Cargo Dragon mission (CRS 19) followed by another Cargo Dragon mission (CRS 20) in March 2020 followed by a Starlink launch (L8) in June and the SAOCOM 1B launch in August. Landing back at LZ1 will substantially reduce turnaround time of this booster making it available for one of the earlier launches in 2021.
17th: Port Canaveral - SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster B1051.7 returns to Port Canaveral on droneship JRTI after the successful Cargo SXM 7 Mission marking the 7th flight of this Falcon 9 booster. For the second time in recent months, a booster has returned listing heavily but the octograbber is holding it a place securely...view.
13th: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The SiriusXM satellite launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Just Read The Instructions' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1051, flew on six previous missions equalling the record of successful launch and landing of an F9 booster. It first flew in March 2019 on Crew Dragon Demo-1 followed by a Radarsat Constellation Mission and four earlier Starlink launches (L3, L6, L9 and 13).
10th: Port Canaveral - SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster B1058.4 returns to Port Canaveral on droneship OCISLY after the successful Cargo Dragon CRS 21 Mission marking the 4th flight of this Falcon 9 booster....view.
6th: SLC-39A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The Cargo Dragon CRS 21 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1058, flew on three previous missions. It first flew at the end of May this year for the Crew Demo-2 mission, completed the ANASIS-II mission in July then used on the Starlink L12 launch on 6 October.
November 2020
28th: Port Canaveral - SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster B1049.7 returns to Port Canaveral on droneship OCISLY after the successful Starlink Mission marking a record breaking 7th flight of a Falcon 9 booster....view.
24th: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The Starlink 15 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1049, which flew on six previous missions, Telstar 18V/Apstar 5C in 2018, Iridium Next x10 (NEXT-7), the first Starlink launch in May 2019 and three Starlink launches L2, L7 and L10 this year, makes it the most successful reusable launch vehicle to date. The mission brings the total starlink satellites in orbit to over 900. The launch also marks the 100th flight of a Falcon 9 booster...view.
21st: Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base - The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite launch was was completed successfully and the booster landed back at the launch complex. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1063, was on it's 1st mission.
19th: SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster B1061.1 returned to Port Canaveral on droneship JRTI after the successful Crew-1 Mission. Note the booster listing at 5 deg. from verticle for a reason unknown. However, Elon Musk is unconcerned stating that some of the parts just need swaping over....view.
15th: SLC-39A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Just Read The Instructions' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1061, was on it's 1st mission, a requirement for NASA. However, NASA has now given clearance for this booster to fly again on the Crew 2 mission with Dragon C206 Endeavour on 30 March 2021.
12th: SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster B1062.1 returned to Port Canaveral on droneship OCISLY after the successful GPS III Mission after a week at sea....view.
5th: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The GPS III SV04 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1062, was on it's 1st mission, a requirement for Space Force launches. However, Space Force has now given clearance for this booster to fly again on the GPSIII SV05 mission in March 2021 as a flight proven vehicle.
October 2020
27th: Port Canaveral - SpaceX Falcon 9 B1060 Returns to Port Canaveral Aboard JRTI....view. SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster 1060 returned to Port Canaveral aboard the autonomous drone landing ship Just Read The Instructions after the successful completion of the Starlink 14 mission. B1060 has flown the GPS III SV03, Starlink 11 and Starlink 14 missions.
24th: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The Starlink 14 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Just Read The Instructions' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1060, completed it's 3rd mission. It first flew in June 2020 on the GPS III SV03 Matthew Henson mission followed by an earlier Starlink launch (L11) in early September.
21st: Port Canaveral - SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster B1051.6 Returns to Port Canaveral after Successful Starlink 13 Launch....view.
18th: SLC-39A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The Starlink 13 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1051, completed it's 6th mission. It first flew in March 2019 on Crew Dragon Demo-1 followed by a Radarsat Constellation Mission and three earlier Starlink launches (L3, L6 and L9) and equals the maximum number of launches and successful landings of a Falcon 9 booster.
8th: Port Canaveral - SpaceX - Return To Port - Starlink-13 - B1058.3....view. Rare sunset return at Port Canaveral. SpaceX fleet is most of Port Canaveral traffic now, no cruise ships. Video by www.VeteransSpaceReport.com.
6th: SLC-39A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The Starlink 12 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1058, completed it's 3rd mission. It first flew at the end of May this year for the Crew Demo-2 mission and completed the ANASIS-II mission in July. One of the fairing halves was was recovered on its 3rd mission in the net of Go Ms Tree. The second, a new fairing half, was fished out of the water.
September 2020
6th: Droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' returns to Port Canaveral with booster B1060 after the successful launch of the Starlink 11 mission.
3rd: SLC-39A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The Starlink 11 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1060, completed it's 2nd mission. It first flew at the end of June this year for the GPS III SV03 Columbus mission.
August 2020
30th: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida - The SAOCOM 1B launch was completed successfully and the booster flipped to return to Landing Zone 1 on Cape Canaveral for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1059, completed it's 4th mission. It first flew in December 2019 on Cargo Dragon mission (CRS 19) followed by another Cargo Dragon mission (CRS 20) in March 2020. Its previous mission was Starlink v1.0 L08 in June....view.
21st: Falcon 9 is back in port following its successful Starlink 10 launch of satellites. SpaceX will bring B1049 back for any refurbishments needed before its next launch (right). Time lapses from today’s lift of Falcon 9 B1049.6.....view.
18th: SLC 40, Cape Canaveral - The Starlink 10/SkySats 19-21 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1049, which flew on five previous missions, Telstar 18V/Apstar 5C in 2018, Iridium Next x10 (NEXT-7), the first Starlink launch in May 2019 and two Starlink launches L2 and L7 this year, makes it the most successful reusable launch vehicle to date. The mission brings the total starlink satellites in orbit to over 650....view.
10th: Port Canaveral - SpaceX Booster B1051.5 Returns to Port after 5th Flight....view.
7th: SLC 39A, Cape Canaveral - The Starlink 9/BlackSky Global 5 & 6 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1051, completed it's 5th mission. It first flew in March 2019 on Crew Dragon Demo-1 followed by a Radarsat Constellation Mission and two earlier Starlink launches (L3 and L6)....view.
July 2020
24th: SpaceX booster returns to port after the ANASIS-II mission....view. Returning for the 57th time, the SpaceX droneship is the only marine traffic at Port Canaveral. Normally it's the 2nd busiest Cruise Ship Port in the US. B1058 looks great and they caught both fairings for the first time too.
20th: SLC 40, Cape Canaveral - The ANASIS-II launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Just Read the Instructions' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1058, which flew on a previous mission, Crew Demo-2, which delivered astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the ISS at the end of May. The mission was for the South Korean military....view.
Later: Port Canaveral - Booster B1060.1 - Lift, Load and Go - GPS III....view. From the sea to the highway. Incredible how SpaceX has shortened the Port processing time. With the new Octagrabber, they are able to load directly from JRTI (droneship Just Read the Instructions) to the transporter. Pushing for that 24hr turnaround.
6th: Port Canaveral - Return to port of booster B1060 after its maiden flight for the launch of GPS 3 SV03....view.
June 2020
30th: SLC 40, Cape Canaveral - The GPS 3 SV03 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Just Read the Instructions' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5, booster No. B1060, was on its maiden flight. This was the first mission for the U.S. Space Force....view.
29th: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket (B1060) upright on the launch pad (right) prior to the GPS 3 SV03 mission.
24th: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket (B1051) test-fired its engines at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) Wednesday in preparation for the Starlink 9/BlackSky Global 5 & 6 launch....view.
16th: SpaceX’s next rocket fairing reuse milestone within reach after latest recovery....view.
13th: SLC 40, Cape Canaveral - The Starlink 8 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5 was booster No. B1059 which flew twice before on Cargo Dragon resupply missions. As well as 58 starlink satelites, the booster launched 3 @planetlabs spacecraft for the first SpaceX SmallSat Rideshare Program.
8th: Port Canaveral - SpaceX record-setting booster B1049 returns to Port in remarkable condition....view.
4th: SLC 40, Cape Canaveral - The Starlink 7 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship 'Just Read the Instructions' for future use. The Falcon 9 Block 5 was booster No. B1049 which had flown 4 times before (Telstar 18V/Apstar-5C, Iridium NEXT-8, Starlink-0.9 and Starlink-2). Its successful landing creates a new record for booster landings of a single vehicle....view.
2nd: Port Canaveral - Booster B1058 returns to port now battle hardened after its launch of Crew Demo-2....view.
May 2020
Just one Falcon 9 launch was completed this month:
• Crew Dragon Demo-2 - This mission, F9-0xx, used Falcon 9 Block 5, B1058. It was the first launch of this booster.
30th: The Crew Demo-2 launch was completed successfully and the booster recovered on the drone-ship for future use.