A Falcon 9 first-stage booster is a reusable rocket booster used on the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy orbital launch vehicles manufactured by SpaceX. The manufacture of first-stage booster constitutes about 60% of the launch price of a single expended Falcon 9 (and three of them over 80% of the launch price of an expended Falcon Heavy), which led SpaceX to develop a program dedicated to recovery and reuse of these boosters. After multiple attempts, some as early as 2010, at controlling the re-entry of the first stage after its separation from the second stage, the first successful controlled landing of a first stage occurred on December 22, 2015, on the first flight of the Full Thrust version. Since then, Falcon 9 first-stage boosters have been landed and recovered times out of attempts, including synchronized recoveries of the side-boosters of most Falcon Heavy flights.
In total recovered boosters have been refurbished and subsequently flown at least a second time, with a record of launches and landings carried out by a single booster. SpaceX intentionally limited Block 3 and Block 4 boosters to flying only two missions each, but the company indicated in 2018 that they expected the Block 5 versions to achieve at least ten flights, with only minor refurbishment between missions. The ten flight milestone was first achieved by Booster B1051 on the Starlink 27 mission in 2021. The twenty flight milestone was first achieved by Booster B1062 on the Starlink Group 6-49 mission in 2024. The thirty flight milestone was first achieved by Booster B1067 on the Starlink Group 10-11 mission in 2025.
All boosters in Block 4 and earlier have been retired, expended, or lost. The last flight of a Block 4 booster was in June 2018. Since then all boosters in the active fleet are Block 5.
Booster names are a B followed by a four-digit number. The first Falcon 9 version, v1.0, had boosters B0001 to B0007. All following boosters were numbered sequentially starting at B1001, the number 1 standing for first-stage booster.
List of boosters v1.0 and v1.1 SpaceX attempted parachute of the Falcon 9 v1.0 first stage on flights 1 and 2, however on both attempts the boosters disintegrated on re-entry, and the plans were abandoned in favor of propulsive landings. Boosters B0002 (Grasshopper) and B1002 (F9R Dev1) were modified to make short propulsive hops at test sites to demonstrate landing technologies, and were not used on orbital missions. Three boosters successfully made soft ocean touchdowns on orbital flights but were not recovered.
Version Launch date (UTC) Flight No. Payload Launch (pad) Landing Fate B0001 v1.0 test — B0002 v1.0 test — Retired B0003 v1.0 F9-001 Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit (SLC40) Destroyed B0004 v1.0 F9-002 COTS Demo Flight 1 (Dragon C101) (SLC40) Destroyed B0005 v1.0 F9-003 COTS Demo Flight 2 (Dragon C102) (SLC40) Expended B0006 v1.0 F9-004 CRS-1 (Dragon C103) (SLC40) Expended B0007 v1.0 F9-005 CRS-2 (Dragon C104) (SLC40) Expended B1001 v1.1 test — B1002 v1.1 test — Destroyed B1003 v1.1 F9-006 CASSIOPE (SLC4E) Expended B1004 v1.1 F9-007 SES-8 (SLC40) Expended B1005 v1.1 F9-008 Thaicom 6 (SLC40) Expended B1006 v1.1 F9-009 CRS-3 (Dragon C105) (SLC40) Expended B1007 v1.1 F9-010 Orbcomm OG2 × 6 (SLC40) Expended B1008 v1.1 F9-011 AsiaSat 8 (SLC40) Expended B1009 v1.1 test — B1010 v1.1 F9-013 CRS-4 (Dragon C106.1) (SLC40) Expended B1011 v1.1 F9-012 AsiaSat 6 / Thaicom 7 (SLC40) Expended B1012 v1.1 F9-014 CRS-5 (Dragon C107) (SLC40) (JRTI) Destroyed B1013 v1.1 F9-015 DSCOVR (SLC40) Expended B1014 v1.1 F9-016 ABS-3A / Eutelsat 115 West B (SLC40) Expended B1015 v1.1 F9-017 CRS-6 (Dragon C108.1) (SLC40) (JRTI) Destroyed B1016 v1.1 F9-018 TürkmenÄlem 52°E / MonacoSAT (SLC40) Expended B1017 v1.1 F9-021 Jason-3 (SLC4E) (JRTI) Destroyed B1018 v1.1 F9-019 CRS-7 (Dragon C109) (SLC40) Destroyed
Full Thrust up to Block 4 Falcon 9 Full Thrust (version 1.2 / Block 3) was the first version of the Falcon 9 to successfully land. Changes included a larger fuel tank, uprated engines and supercooled propellant and oxidizer to increase performance. Block 3 and Block 4 are found in this list while the active Block 5 is listed separately. Block 4 was a test version that included new hardware such as titanium grid fins later carried over to the current Block 5. Flights of all Falcon 9 rockets up to Block 4 were limited to 2 flights only, with a total of 14 second flights of these variants. The boosters were either retired or expended after that second launch.
Boosters B1023 and B1025 were originally Falcon 9 boosters which were converted to Falcon Heavy side boosters for the Falcon Heavy test flight.
Version Launch date (UTC)Flight No. Turnaround Payload Launch (pad) Landing (location) Fate B1019 FT F9-020 Orbcomm OG2 × 11 (SLC40) (LZ1) RetiredOn display at SpaceX headquarters B1020 FT F9-022 SES-9 (SLC40) (OCISLY) Destroyed B1021 FT F9-023 CRS-8 (Dragon C110.1) (SLC40) (OCISLY)RetiredOn display at Dish Network headquarters F9-032 SES-10 (LC39A) (OCISLY) B1022 FT F9-024 JCSAT-14 (SLC40) (OCISLY) Retired B1023 FT F9-025 Thaicom 8 (SLC40) (OCISLY)RetiredOn display at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex FH side Tesla Roadster (LC39A) (LZ1) B1024 FT F9-026 ABS-2A / Eutelsat 117 West B (SLC40) (OCISLY) Destroyed B1025 FT F9-027 CRS-9 (Dragon C111.1) (SLC40) (LZ1)Retired FH side FH-001 Tesla Roadster (LC39A) (LZ2) B1026 FT F9-028 JCSAT-16 (SLC40) (OCISLY) Retired B1027 FH test — B1028 FT — AMOS-6 Destroyed in launch pad explosion B1029 FT F9-029 Iridium NEXT × 10 (NEXT-1) (SLC4E) (JRTI)Retired F9-036 BulgariaSat-1 (LC39A) (OCISLY) B1030 FT F9-031 EchoStar 23 The number 30 is visible just above the engines. (LC39A) Expended B1031 FT F9-030 CRS-10 (Dragon C112.1) (LC39A) (LZ1) Retired F9-043 SES-11 (LC39A) (OCISLY) B1032 FT F9-033 USA-276 (NROL-76) (LC39A) (LZ1) Expended F9-048 GovSat-1 / SES-16 (SLC40) B1033 FH core FH-001 Tesla Roadster (LC39A) (OCISLY) Destroyed B1034 FT F9-034 Inmarsat-5 F4 (LC39A) Expended B1035 FT F9-035 CRS-11 (Dragon C106.2) (LC39A) (LZ1)RetiredOn display at Space Center Houston F9-045 CRS-13 (Dragon C108.2) (SLC40) (LZ1) B1036 FT F9-037 Iridium NEXT × 10 (NEXT-2) (SLC4E) (JRTI) Expended F9-046 Iridium NEXT × 10 (NEXT-4) (SLC4E) B1037 FT F9-038 Intelsat 35e (LC39A) Expended B1038 FT F9-040 Formosat-5 (SLC4E) (JRTI) Expended F9-049 Paz (SLC4E) B1039 F9B4 F9-039 CRS-12 (Dragon C113.1) (LC39A) (LZ1) Expended F9-052 CRS-14 (Dragon C110.2) (SLC40) B1040 F9B4 F9-041 Boeing X-37B (OTV-5) (LC39A) (LZ1) Expended F9-056 SES-12 (SLC40) B1041 F9B4 F9-042 Iridium NEXT × 10 (NEXT-3) (SLC4E) (JRTI) Expended F9-051 Iridium NEXT × 10 (NEXT-5) (SLC4E) B1042 F9B4 F9-044 Koreasat 5A (LC39A) (OCISLY) Retired B1043 F9B4 F9-047 Zuma (SLC40) (LZ1) Expended Iridium NEXT × 5 (NEXT-6) / (SLC4E) B1044 F9B4 F9-050 Hispasat 30W-6 (SLC40) Expended B1045 F9B4 F9-053 TESS (SLC40) (OCISLY) Expended F9-057 CRS-15 (Dragon C111.2) (SLC40)
Block 5 There are three booster types: Falcon 9 (F9), Falcon Heavy core (FH core) boosters, and Falcon Heavy side (FH side) boosters. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy side boosters are reconfigurable to each other. A Falcon Heavy core booster is manufactured with structural supports for the side boosters and cannot be converted to Falcon Heavy side booster, although it can be converted to a lower performance Falcon 9 core booster. The interstage mounting hardware was changed after B1056. The newer interstage design features fewer pins holding the interstage on, reducing the amount of work needed to convert a Falcon 9 booster to a Falcon Heavy side booster.
Block 5 is the latest iteration of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters. Changes include a stronger heat shield, upgraded engines, new carbon composite sections (landing legs, engine sections, raceways, RCS thrusters and interstage), retractable landing legs, titanium grid fins, and other additions that simplify refurbishment and allow for easier reusability.
Block 5 boosters were initially certified for 10 launches which was increased to 15. A "deep-dive" examination has been performed on Falcon 9 B1058 and B1060 after their 15th flight, and SpaceX certified Falcon 9 boosters for 20 missions. SpaceX has further increased the Falcon re-flight certification to 40 flights per booster, since 20 flights of some boosters are reached.
B1058, first launched on May 30, 2020 (Crew Dragon Demo-2), was the only booster with NASA logos. On September 11, 2022, during a Starlink mission, it became the first to complete fourteen launches and landings to become the fleet leader. With another 5 Starlink missions, B1058 achieved 15th to 19th launches and landings, the first to do so. B1062 had been the first to achieve 20th to 23rd launches and landings of a booster. Guinness World Records holder with crown decal, B1067, is the current fleet leader after completing 24th to 37th launch & landings, the first to do so. Amongst all B5 boosters, B1071 holds the record for most spacecraft (1147) launched to orbit, while the record for most spacecraft mass launched to orbit by a single booster is held by B1067, i.e., (). B1063 is currently and of all time, the oldest surviving booster in the Falcon 9 fleet.
, SpaceX has put into service a total of 58 new B5 boosters, of which 34 have been destroyed (25 have been expended, six have been lost due to failed landings, and three have been lost during recovery).
Destroyed, expended or lost