When does the Falcon 9 launch?

Falcon 9 doesn't have a single launch date because it is, by far, the most-launched orbital rocket in the world. During 2025 SpaceX launched it more than 150 times, an average of one liftoff every two or three days, and in 2026 it is keeping up a similar pace (as of May 2026). In practice, there's a Falcon 9 on the pad almost every week. What does have a date is each specific mission, which is announced on SpaceX's website and official accounts a few days beforehand, with a launch window that can shift due to weather or technical reviews.

Launches take off from three complexes: Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center and SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, both in Florida, and SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Most missions deploy SpaceX's own Starlink satellites; the rest are split between commercial payloads, government satellites, NASA science missions, and Dragon cargo and crew capsules bound for the International Space Station.

The cadence is sustained thanks to reusability: the first stage lands on droneships or on land and flies again, in some cases more than twenty times (as of May 2026). To follow a specific launch it's best to search for the mission name, not just the rocket's, and check the time on SpaceX's website the same day. Broadcasts begin about fifteen minutes before liftoff, and 24-hour delays are common, so the published date is always tentative until the countdown begins.