![]() Launch of the 10th Falcon 9 v1.1 with the Deep Space Climate Observatory on 11 February 2015. This rocket was equipped with landing legs and grid fins.
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Function | Orbital medium-lift launch vehicle |
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Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Country of origin | United States |
Cost per launch | $56.5M (2013) – 61.2M (2015) |
Size | |
Height | 68.4 m (224 ft) |
Diameter | 3.66 m (12.0 ft) |
Mass | 505,846 kg (1,115,200 lb) |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO (28.5°) | 13,150 kg (28,990 lb) 10,886 kg (24,000 lb) (PAF structural limitation) |
Payload to GTO (27°) | 4,850 kg (10,690 lb) |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Falcon 9 |
Derivatives | Falcon 9 Full Thrust |
Comparable | |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | |
Total launches | 15 |
Successes | 14 |
Failures | 1 |
Landings | 0 / 3 attempts |
First flight | 29 September 2013 |
Last flight | 17 January 2016 |
Notable payloads | Dragon, DSCOVR |
First stage | |
Engines | 9 Merlin 1D |
Thrust |
Sea level: 5,885 kN (1,323,000 lbf) Vacuum: 6,672 kN (1,500,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse |
Sea level: 282 seconds Vacuum: 311 seconds |
Burn time | 180 seconds |
Fuel | LOX / RP-1 |
Second stage | |
Engines | 1 Merlin 1D Vacuum |
Thrust | 716 kN (161,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 340 seconds |
Burn time | 375 seconds |
Fuel | LOX / RP-1 |
Falcon 9 v1.1 was the second version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. The rocket was developed in 2011–2013, made its maiden launch in September 2013, and its final flight in January 2016. The Falcon 9 rocket was fully designed, manufactured, and operated by SpaceX. Following the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) launch, the initial version Falcon 9 v1.0 was retired from use and replaced by the v1.1 version.
Falcon 9 v1.1 was a significant evolution from Falcon 9 v1.0, with 60 percent more thrust and weight. Its maiden flight carried out a demonstration mission with the CASSIOPE satellite on 29 September 2013, the sixth overall launch of any Falcon 9.
Both stages of the two-stage-to-orbit vehicle used liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellants. The Falcon 9 v1.1 could lift payloads of 13,150 kilograms (28,990 lb) to low Earth orbit, and 4,850 kilograms (10,690 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit, which places the Falcon 9 design in the medium-lift range of launch systems.
Beginning in April 2014, the Dragon capsules were propelled by Falcon 9 v1.1 to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. This version was also intended to ferry astronauts to the ISS under a NASA Commercial Crew Development contract signed in September 2014 but those missions are now scheduled to use the upgraded Falcon 9 Full Thrust version, first flown in December 2015.