Falcon 9 vs Starship
Falcon 9 is the most-flown American rocket in history and the machine that funds SpaceX today. Starship is the vehicle meant to replace it entirely, trading a proven partially reusable design for full reusability at more than four times the payload.
Rockets5 min
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is SpaceX's partially reusable two-stage rocket and the most-flown American launch vehicle, with 670 Falcon family flights as of June 2026.
Rockets5 min
Starship
Starship is SpaceX's fully reusable super heavy-lift rocket and the largest ever flown, with twelve test flights since 2023 and a Version 3 debut in May 2026.
Key differences
- Status: Falcon 9 is operational with 650+ flights; Starship is mid-test-program with 12 flights and no customers flown yet.
- Reuse depth: Falcon 9 reuses its first stage and fairings (boosters have flown 35 times); Starship is designed to reuse everything, including the upper stage.
- Payload class: roughly 17.5 t to LEO with booster recovery for Falcon 9 versus a design target above 100 t for Starship.
- Transition: the heavier V3 Starlink satellites only fit on Starship, so SpaceX's own constellation is the anchor customer forcing the handover.
Side-by-side specifications
| Falcon 9 | Starship | |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | SpaceX | SpaceX |
| Country | United States | United States |
| First flight | June 4, 2010 | - |
| Height | 70 m | 124.4 m (V3), 121 m (V1-V2) |
| Diameter | 3.7 m | 9 m |
| Mass | 549,054 kg | - |
| Payload to LEO | 22,800 kg (expendable) | 100+ tonnes (planned, fully reusable) |
| Stages | 2 | 2 (Super Heavy booster, Starship upper stage) |
| Status | Active | In flight testing (12 flights as of July 2026) |
| Total launches | 670 (Falcon family, as of June 29, 2026) | - |
| First integrated flight | - | April 20, 2023 |
| Engines | - | Raptor, burning liquid methane and oxygen |
| Launch site | - | Starbase, Texas |
Figures come from each article's infobox; see the articles for sources and context.