Falcon 9 (2023)

Category: Falcon 9 (2023)
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Credit: SpaceX

Falcon 9 is a partially reusable two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by the American aerospace company SpaceX. Both the first and second stages are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines and the first stage is capable of re-entering the atmosphere and landing vertically after separating from the second stage. Falcon 9 can lift payloads of up to 22,800 kilograms (50,300 lb) to low Earth orbit (LEO) and 8,300 kg (18,300 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Due to the great success of the Falcon 9, it is often used today to launch commercial payloads such as communications satellites. Falcon 9 has been considered as the world's most advanced space launch vehicle and as of January 2021, this launch vehicle has the most launches among all U.S. rockets currently in operation. Learn all about the different commercial unmanned launches of the Falcon 9 rocket from the American space company SpaceX in 2023 thanks to this overview!

2023 Falcon 9 commercial launch overview

Date launch Rocket Launch base Orbit Payload Payload mass Patch Mission succes?
03/01/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 SSO
  • Argentina MDQSAT 1A & 1B (Innova Space)
  • Argentina 4 x ÑuSat (Satellogic S.A.) NuSat
  • Australia 4 x Skykraft (Skykraft)
  • Bulgaria SharedSat 2211 (EnduroSat)
  • Czech BDSAT (BD Sensors)
  • Denmark Sternula 1 (Sternula)
  • Finland 3 x ICEYE (ICEYE)
  • France BRO 8 (UnseenLabs)
  • France Gama Alpha (Gama)
  • Italy ION-SCV 007 & 008 (D-Orbit)
  • Italy Futura SM1 & SM3 (SpaceMind)
  • India Pushan alpha (Digantara)
  • Israel BeetleSat 1 (BeetleSat)
  • Israel TAU-SAT 2 (Tel Aviv University)
  • Japan EYE 1 (Sony)
  • Luxembourg 4 x KSF 3 (Kleos Space)
  • Norway MilSpace 1 & 2 (FFI & TNO)
  • Kuwait KuwaitSat 1 (Kuwait University)
  • Poland STAR-VIBE (Scanway Space)
  • Singapore ZEUS 1 (Qosmosys)
  • South Africa EOS SAT 1 (Dragonfly Aerospace)
  • Spain Menut (Open Cosmos)
  • Sweden Kelpie 1 (AAC Clyde Space)
  • Switserland 4 x Astrocast 04 (Astrocast SA)
  • Turkey Connecta T1.2 (Plan-S)
  • UAE Sharjah-Sat 1 (Univ. of Sharjah)
  • UK Guardian alpha (OrbAstro)
  • UK Unicorn 2G & 2H (Alba Orbital)
  • Ukraine PolyITAN-HP-30 (Technical Univ. of Ukraine)
  • USA Chimera LEO-1 (Epic Aerospace)
  • USA EWS-RROCI (USSF)
  • USA Lynk Tower 03 & 04 (Lynk Global Inc.)
  • USA PROVES-Yearling (Cal Poly Pomona Bronco Space)
  • USA Sapling 1 (Stanford University)
  • USA Umbra-SAR 04 & 05 (Umbra Lab) Umbra-SAR
  • USA YAM 5 (Loft Orbital)
  • USA 6 x Lemur-2 (Spire)
  • USA 12 x SpaceBEE (Swarm Technologies) SpaceBEE
  • USA 36 x DOVE (Planet Labs)
 ? Transporter-6

Success
10/01/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 Polar
  • UK 40 x OneWeb (OneWeb)
 6,000 kg OneWeb

Success
18/01/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 MEO
  • USA GPS III-06 (USSF)
 4,352 kg GPS

Success
19/01/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 51 x Starlink v1.5 Group 2-4 (SpaceX)
 15,800 kg Starlink

Success
26/01/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 56 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-2 (SpaceX)
 17,400 kg Starlink

Success
31/01/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 49 x Starlink v1.5 Group 2-6 (SpaceX)
 15,200 kg Starlink

Success
02/02/2022 Falcon 9 B5 Kennedy Space Center
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 53 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-3 (SpaceX)
 16,500 kg Starlink

Success
07/02/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 GTO
  • Spain Amazonas Nexus (Hispasat)
 4,146 kg Amazonas Nexus

Success
12/02/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA55 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-4 (SpaceX)
 17,100 kg Starlink

Success
17/02/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 51 x Starlink v1.5 Group 2-5 (SpaceX)
 15,900 kg Starlink

Success
18/02/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 GTO
  • International Inmarsat-6 F2 (Inmarsat)
 5,470 kg Inmarsat

Success
27/02/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-1 (SpaceX)
 16,900 kg Starlink

Success
03/03/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 51 x Starlink v1.5 Group 2-7 (SpaceX)
 15,900 kg Starlink

Success
09/03/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • UK 40 x OneWeb (OneWeb)
 6,000 kg OneWeb

Success
17/03/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 52 x Starlink v1.5 Group 2-8 (SpaceX)
 16,200 kg Starlink

Success
17/03/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 GTO
  • Luxembourg SES-18 (SES)
  • Luxembourg SES-19 (SES)
 7,000 kg SES

Success
24/03/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 56 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-5 (SpaceX)
 17,400 kg Starlink

Success
29/03/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 56 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-10 (SpaceX)
 17,400 kg Starlink

Success
02/04/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA Transport & Tracking Layer 0A (SDA)
 Unknown SDA

Success
07/04/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 GTO
  • USA Intelsat 40e (Intelsat)
  • USA TEMPO (NASA)
 5,590 kg Intelsat

Success
15/04/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 SSO
  • imece (TÜBITAK)
  • Umbra-SAR 06 (Umbra Lab)
  • GHOSt 1 & 2 (Orbital Sidekick)
  • Tomorrow R1 (Tomorrow.io)
  • NORSAT TD (Norsk Romsenter)
  • BRO 9 (Unseenlabs)
  • CIRBE (LASP)
  • Brokkr 1 (AstroForge)
  • DEWA-Sat 2 (DEWA)
  • SSS 2A (APSCO)
  • INSPIREsat 7 (Université de Versailles)
  • PROVES-Yearsling 2 (Bronco Space)
  • RoseyCubesat 1 (OSM)
  • Connecta T2.1 (Plan-S)
  • LacunaSat 2f (Lacuna Space)
  • KILIÇSAT (Gumush Aerospace)
  • Taifa 1 (Kenya Space Agency)
  • FACSAT 2 (Fureza Aérea Colombiana)
  • Sapling 2 (Stanford University)
  • Platform 3 (EnduroSat)
  • DISCO 3 (Aalborg University)
  • VIREO (C3S Electronics Dev.)
  • REVELA (ARCA Dynamics)
  • IRIS C (National Cheng Kung Univ.)
  • LLITED 1 & 2 (The Aerospace Corporation)
  • VCUB 1 (Visiona Tecnologia Espacial)
  • EPICHyper 1 (AAC Clyde Space)
  • ELO 3 (Eutelsat)
  • ION-SCV 010 (D-Orbit)
  • 2 x Kepler (Kepler Communications)
  • 2 x Lemur-2 (Spire)
  • 3 x Hawk 7 (HawkEye 360)
  • 3 x GHGSat C (GHGSat Inc.)
  • 4 x ÑuSat (Satellogic S.A.)
 Unknown SpaceX

Success
19/04/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-2 (SpaceX)
 16,900 kg Starlink

Success
27/04/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 46 x Starlink v1.5 Group 3-5 (SpaceX)
 14,100 kg Starlink

Success
28/04/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 MEO
  • UK O3b mPOWER 3 (SES)
  • UK O3b mPOWER 4 (SES)
 4,100 kg O3b

Success
04/05/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 56 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-6 (SpaceX)
 17,400 kg Starlink

Success
10/05/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 51 x Starlink v1.5 Group 2-9 (SpaceX)
 15,900 kg Starlink

Success
14/05/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 56 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-9 (SpaceX)
 17,400 kg Starlink

Success
19/05/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-3 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
20/05/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 Polar/LEO
  • USA 5 x Iridium-NEXT (Iridium)
  • UK 16 x OneWeb (OneWeb)
 15,900 kg Iridium

Success
27/05/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 GTO
  • Saudi Arabia Badr-8 (Arabsat)
 4,500 kg Arabsat

Success
31/05/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 52 x Starlink v1.5 Group 2-10 (SpaceX)
 16,400 kg Starlink

Success
04/06/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-4 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
12/06/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 52 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-11 (SpaceX)
 16,400 kg Starlink

Success
12/06/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 SSO
  • Transporter-8 (72 smallsats)
 Unknown SpaceX

Success
18/06/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 GTO
  • Indonesia SATRIA (PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara)
 4,580 kg SATRIA

Success
22/06/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 47 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-7 (SpaceX)
 14,500 kg Starlink

Success
23/06/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 56 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-12 (SpaceX)
 17,400 kg Starlink

Success
01/07/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 L2
  • Europe Euclid (ESA)
 2,160 kg EUCLID

Success
07/07/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 48 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-13 (SpaceX)
 14,900 kg Starlink

Success
10/06/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-05 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
16/07/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 54 x Starlink v1.5 Group 5-15 (SpaceX)
 16,700 kg Starlink

Success
20/07/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 15 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-15 (SpaceX)
 12,000 kg Starlink

Success
24/07/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-6 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
28/07/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-7 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
03/08/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 GTO
  • USA Galaxy 37 (Intelsat)
 5,060 kg Intelsat

Success
07/08/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-8 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
08/08/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 15 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-20 (SpaceX)
 12,000 kg Starlink

Success
11/08/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-9 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
17/08/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-10 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
22/08/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-01 (SpaceX)
 16,800 kg Starlink

Success
27/08/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-11 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
01/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-13 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
02/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA Transport & Tracking Layer 0B (SDA)
 Unknown SDA

Success
04/09/2022 Falcon 9 B5 Kennedy Space Center
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-12 (SpaceX)
 16,800 kg Starlink

Success
09/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-14 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
12/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-02 (SpaceX)
 16,800 kg Starlink

Success
16/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-16 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
20/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-17 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
24/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-18 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
25/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-03 (SpaceX)
 16,800 kg Starlink

Success
30/09/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-19 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
05/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-21 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
09/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-04 (SpaceX)
 16,800 kg Starlink

Success
13/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-22 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
18/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-23 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
21/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-05 (SpaceX)
 16,800 kg Starlink

Success
22/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-24 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
29/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 21 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-06 (SpaceX)
 16,800 kg Starlink

Success
30/10/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-24 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
04/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-26 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
08/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-27 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
12/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 SSO
  • Belgium SPIP (Aerospacelab)
  • Bulgaria Platform 5 (EnduroSat)
  • Canada AEther 1 (Kepler Communications)
  • Canada AEther 2 (Kepler Communications)
  • Canada GHGSat C9 (Spire/GHGSat Inc.)
  • Canada GHGSat C10 (Spire/GHGSat Inc.)
  • Canada GHGSat C11 (Spire/GHGSat Inc.)
  • Djibouti Djibuti 1A (AAC Clyde Space)
  • Europe MANTIS (ESA)
  • Finland 4 x ICEYE (ICEYE)
  • France BRO 10 (UnseenLabs)
  • France BRO 11 (UnseenLabs)
  • France ProtoMéthée (Prométhée earth Intel.)
  • Japan NinjaSat (RIKEN)
  • Luxembourg Tiger 5 (OQ Technology)
  • Luxembourg Tiger 6 (OQ Technology)
  • Oman Aman 1 (ETCO)
  • Poland Intuition 1 (KP Labs)
  • South Korea KAFASAT (Korea Air Force Academy)
  • South Korea Observer 1A (Nara Space Techn.)
  • Taiwan IRIS C2 (NCKU)
  • Taiwan PEARL 1C (Non Hai Tech. Group)
  • Taiwan PEARL 1H (Non Hai Tech. Group)
  • Turkey Connecta T3.1 (Plan-S)
  • Turkey Connecta T3.2 (Plan-S)
  • UK EPICHyper 3 (AAC Clyde Space)
  • UK Outpost Mission 2 (Outpost)
  • UK Unicorn 2J (Alba Orbital)
  • UK Unicorn 2K (Alba Orbital)
  • USA FalconSat 10 (US Air Force Academy)
  • USA Pelican 1 (Planet labs)
  • USA Tartan-Artibeaus 1 (Carnegie Mellon Univ.)
  • USA 2 x Lemur-2 (Spire)
  • USA 2 x Umbra-SAR (Umbra Lab)
  • USA 36 x Dove 24 (Planet labs)
 Unknown SpaceX

Success
12/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 MEO
  • UK O3b mPOWER 5 (SES)
  • UK O3b mPOWER 6 (SES)
 4,100 kg O3b

Success
18/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-28 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
20/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-07 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
22/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-29 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
28/11/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-30 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
01/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 SSO
  • South Korea425 Project (ROK Armed Forces)
 800 kg Project 425

Success
03/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-31 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
07/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-33 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
08/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 LEO
  • USA 22 x Starlink v1.5 Group 7-08 (SpaceX)
 17,600 kg Starlink

Success
19/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-34 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
23/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-32 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success
24/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Vandenberg Space
Force Base
(California)		 SSO
  • Germany SARah 2 (German Intelligence Services)
  • Germany SARah 3 (German Intelligence Services)
 3,600 kg SARah

Success
29/12/2023 Falcon 9 B5 Cape Canaveral
(Florida)		 LEO
  • USA 23 x Starlink v1.5 Group 6-36 (SpaceX)
 18,400 kg Starlink

Success

Images: SpaceX

Kris Christiaens's Avatar

Kris Christiaens

This article was published by FutureSpaceFlight founder and chief editor Kris Christiaens. Kris Christiaens has been passionate and fascinated by spaceflight and space exploration all his life and has written hundreds of articles on space projects, the commercial space industry and space missions over the past 20 years for magazines, books and websites. In late 2021, he founded the website FutureSpaceFlight with the goal of promoting new space companies and commercial space projects and compiling news of these start-ups and companies on one website.