Familia: Falcon · SpaceX
Falcon 9
Estadísticas de lanzamientos
- 670
- Lanzamientos (hasta 27 de julio de 2026)
- 60
- Éxitos
- 2
- Fallos
- 96.8 %
- Tasa de éxito
-1600.webp)
El Falcon 9 es el lanzador que cambió las reglas del acceso al espacio: un cohete de dos etapas cuya primera etapa vuelve, aterriza de pie y vuelve a volar — algo que la industria consideraba económicamente imposible hasta que SpaceX lo convirtió en rutina. Nació del programa comercial de la NASA de mediados de los años 2000, cuando la agencia apostó por comprar transporte a empresas privadas en lugar de diseñar sus propios cohetes. SpaceX, que venía del pequeño Falcon 1, respondió con un lanzador de nueve motores que debutó el 4 de junio de 2010. El 21 de diciembre de 2015 logró lo nunca visto: posar la primera etapa de un cohete orbital de vuelta en tierra firme. Desde entonces la reutilización dejó de ser un experimento — con aterrizajes en barcazas en el océano, etapas que acumulan decenas de vuelos y una cadencia de lanzamiento sin precedente en la historia. Hoy el Falcon 9 es el caballo de batalla del acceso al espacio occidental: lleva astronautas a la estación espacial, despliega la constelación Starlink y lanza más veces al año que todos sus competidores juntos, con un precio por kilo que redefinió el mercado.
Historia
El Falcon 9 debutó el 4 de junio de 2010 y transformó el acceso al espacio: en diciembre de 2015 logró el primer aterrizaje propulsivo de una primera etapa orbital, y desde entonces la reutilización es la norma de la familia.
Origen
SpaceX anunció el Falcon 9 en 2005, cuando aún no había alcanzado la órbita con su pequeño Falcon 1. El impulso decisivo llegó de la NASA: el programa comercial de carga —con el contrato COTS de 2006 y los servicios de reabastecimiento contratados en 2008— financió a la vez el cohete y la cápsula Dragon, en una apuesta de la agencia por comprar transporte en lugar de poseer cohetes. El diseño reunió nueve motores Merlin en la primera etapa, con la redundancia como filosofía: el cohete puede perder un motor y completar la misión.
Evolución
Del Falcon 9 original de 2010 se pasó en 2013 a la versión v1.1, más larga y potente, y en 2015 a la Full Thrust con propelentes superenfriados. La iteración culminó en 2018 con el Block 5, la versión definitiva, optimizada para reutilizar cada etapa una y otra vez con un reacondicionamiento mínimo. Cada versión fue un escalón deliberado hacia el mismo objetivo: que tirar el cohete tras cada vuelo dejara de ser normal.
La conquista de la reutilización
Tras años de pruebas —y de fracasos espectaculares en la barcaza—, el 21 de diciembre de 2015 una primera etapa aterrizó en Cabo Cañaveral minutos después del despegue. En 2017 una etapa ya usada volvió a volar por primera vez. Lo que siguió fue una acumulación silenciosa de récords: aterrizajes en las barcazas oceánicas como rutina, etapas individuales superando las decenas de vuelos y el precio de acceso a órbita cayendo en consecuencia.
El caballo de batalla
En 2020 el Falcon 9 devolvió a Estados Unidos el vuelo tripulado con la Crew Dragon, y desde entonces lleva astronautas a la estación espacial de forma regular. El grueso de su cadencia lo pone Starlink, la constelación de SpaceX, que ha convertido el lanzamiento orbital en una operación casi diaria: la familia superó los 400 y luego los 500 vuelos en un puñado de años, algo sin precedente para un lanzador orbital.
Legado
El Falcon 9 demostró que la reutilización propulsiva funciona técnica y comercialmente, y obligó a toda la industria —de Europa a China— a rediseñar sus lanzadores alrededor de esa idea. Pocas máquinas han movido tanto la frontera de lo posible en el espacio desde el transbordador.
Cronología de lanzamientos
| Fecha | Base de lanzamiento | Resultado | Carga útil |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 ago 2026, 9:33 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 22 ago 2026, 7:25 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 21 ago 2026, 15:14 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 19 ago 2026, 4:01 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 16 ago 2026, 1:50 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | USSF-366 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites for a US government entity based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bus, based on locations of rocket stage drop zones being exact fits with previous Starlink Group 15 launches. |
| 16 ago 2026, 1:12 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | The Globalstar global mobile communications network offers global, digital real time voice, data and fax services via its Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation. The constellation operates in a 1410 km orbit inclined at 52 degrees. In early 2022, Globalstar contracted with MDA for the construction of 17 new 2nd generation refresh satellites to replenish the existing constellation. Rocket Lab is sub-contracted to build the satellites' buses and the launch dispensers. |
| 12 ago 2026, 4:46 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 11 ago 2026, 15:58 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 8 ago 2026, 16:35 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 5 ago 2026, 7:49 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, required to achieve 24/7 continuous cellular broadband service coverage in the United States, with beams designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps, supporting voice, full data and video applications. The Block 2 BlueBirds, featuring as large as 2400 square foot communications arrays, will be the largest satellites ever commercially deployed in Low Earth orbit once launched. This launch will feature 3 satellites. |
| 4 ago 2026, 17:05 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 1 ago 2026, 3:08 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 30 jul 2026, 7:10 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office. |
| 25 jul 2026, 15:51 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 21 jul 2026, 21:15 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | The Northrop Grumman/SpaceLogistics MRV-1 is a mission extension payload including a mission robotic vehicle (MRV) and multiple mission extension pods (MEPs). The MRV is designed to attach up to 30 MEPs (Mission Extension Pods) to various satellites in GEO over the course of its life, and the MEPs (Mission Extension Pods) are 400 kg spacecraft designed to be captured by the MRV and then attached to a customer's satellite. A single MEP can extend a 2000 kg satellite's service life by up to 6 years. For this mission, 2 of the MEP's will service satellites for Intelsat, while the third will service a satellite for Optus. |
| 21 jul 2026, 14:49 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 16 jul 2026, 20:32 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | Tranche 1 Transport Layer E is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites. The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance. This launch carries 21 satellites manufactured by York Space Systems. |
| 14 jul 2026, 9:10 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 14 jul 2026, 1:28 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 11 jul 2026, 3:01 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 9 jul 2026, 9:25 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 7 jul 2026, 7:12 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. |
| 5 jul 2026, 10:50 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. The Falcon 9 1st stage carries 2 customer payload from Besxar Space Industries for testing their Fabships pilot reusable semiconductor wafers manufacturing pods in launch and re-entry environments. |
| 2 jul 2026, 2:58 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 29 jun 2026, 2:25 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | SXM-11 is the 12th high-powered, digital, audio radio satellite built by Lanteris Space (ex-Maxar, Space System/Loral) for SiriusXM. The SXM-11 satellite will be based on the proven IM-1300 (ex-LS-1300)-class platform and built at the company’s manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California. SXM-11 has a large, mesh, unfurlable reflector almost 10 meters in diameter that allows SiriusXM programming to reach its radios, including those in moving vehicles. |
| 28 jun 2026, 16:09 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 25 jun 2026, 3:30 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 23 jun 2026, 10:53 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | Note: Mission profile and payload details are TBD. Demonstration mission for SpaceX’s Project Starfall, which aims to mass-produce reentry capsules designed to autonomously transport valuable customer experiments and other payloads safely back from space to Earth, including for in-orbit manufacturing. Starfall is a cylindrical shaped capsule approximately 0.75 meters tall with a diameter of 3.1 meters, weighing approximately 2100 kilograms, and capable of carrying 1000 kilograms of payload. It is designed to be carried on Starship flights. |
| 21 jun 2026, 16:39 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 19 jun 2026, 8:50 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | Fourteenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities. |
| 17 jun 2026, 6:39 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, required to achieve 24/7 continuous cellular broadband service coverage in the United States, with beams designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps, supporting voice, full data and video applications. The Block 2 BlueBirds, featuring as large as 2400 square foot communications arrays, will be the largest satellites ever commercially deployed in Low Earth orbit once launched. This launch will feature 3 satellites. |
| 15 jun 2026, 15:34 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 12 jun 2026, 12:37 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 11 jun 2026, 15:05 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 8 jun 2026, 10:13 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 7 jun 2026, 4:24 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. 2 US military Starshield satellites are also on board. |
| 4 jun 2026, 10:26 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 3 jun 2026, 15:40 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 30 may 2026, 15:25 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 29 may 2026, 12:57 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 26 may 2026, 14:50 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 25 may 2026, 11:48 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 21 may 2026, 10:04 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 20 may 2026, 2:46 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 15 may 2026, 22:05 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | 34th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Cargo Dragon 2 brings supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support science and research investigations that occur onboard the orbiting laboratory. |
| 12 may 2026, 2:13 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | Thirteenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities. |
| 6 may 2026, 3:59 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 3 may 2026, 7:00 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | Ride-share of 45 satellites including: * CAS500-2 (KASA, South Korea) The South Korean CAS500-1 and -2 satellites will image the Earth in pan-chromatic and multi-spectral modes using the AEISS-C (Advanced Earth Imaging Sensor System) payload, with a ground resolution of 0.5 m in panchromatic mode and 2 m in color mode. * Pelican-7, 8 & 9 (Planet Labs) Pelican is a constellation of very high resolution imaging satellites, designed and manufactured by Planet Labs. The commercial constellation will consist of 32 SmallSats with potential for further expansion, and aims to provide improved spatial resolution and response times over Planet’s existing SkySat and Dove constellations. |
| 1 may 2026, 18:06 | Space Launch Complex 40 | Éxito | A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
| 30 abr 2026, 2:42 | Space Launch Complex 4E | Éxito | A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. |
Versiones
| v1.0 | v1.1 | Full Thrust | Block 4 | Block 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primer lanzamiento | 4 de junio de 2010 | 29 de septiembre de 2013 | 22 de diciembre de 2015 | 14 de agosto de 2017 | 11 de mayo de 2018 |
| Último lanzamiento | 1 de marzo de 2013 | 17 de enero de 2016 | 22 de febrero de 2018 | 29 de junio de 2018 | — |
| Altura | 54,9 m | 68,4 m | 70 m Mejor valor de la fila | — | 69,8 m |
| Diámetro | 3,7 m Mejor valor de la fila | 3,7 m Mejor valor de la fila | 3,7 m Mejor valor de la fila | 3,7 m Mejor valor de la fila | 3,7 m Mejor valor de la fila |
| Masa | 333.400 kg | 505.846 kg | 549.000 kg Mejor valor de la fila | — | 549.000 kg Mejor valor de la fila |
| Empuje al despegue | 4940 kN | 5885 kN | 6800 kN | — | 7607 kN Mejor valor de la fila |
| Etapas | 2 Mejor valor de la fila | 2 Mejor valor de la fila | 2 Mejor valor de la fila | 2 Mejor valor de la fila | 2 Mejor valor de la fila |
| Capacidad a LEO | 10.450 kg | 13.150 kg | 22.800 kg Mejor valor de la fila | — | 22.800 kg Mejor valor de la fila |
| Capacidad GTO | 4540 kg | 4850 kg | 8300 kg Mejor valor de la fila | — | 8300 kg Mejor valor de la fila |
| Reutilizable | No | No | Sí | Sí | Sí |
Imágenes