Falcon 9 vs Starship
Falcon 9 is the most-flown American rocket in history and SpaceX's operational launch workhorse. SpaceX intends Starship to assume many of its roles, trading a proven partially reusable design for full reuse and several times the payload, but Starship has not demonstrated that transition.
The two articles
Rockets24 min
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is SpaceX's two-stage rocket, with a reusable first stage, 702 liftoffs through November 12, 2026, and crew, science, and Starlink roles.
Rockets30 min
Starship
Starship is SpaceX's super heavy-lift rocket in flight testing, designed for full reuse, orbital refueling, Starlink launches, and lunar missions.
Key differences
- Status: Falcon 9 had made 702 physical liftoffs through November 12, 2026: 699 full primary-mission successes, one partial success, and two primary-mission failures. Starship has flown 15 test flights since 2023; the first 13 were suborbital, Flight 14 reached orbit on September 28, 2026, and Flight 15 came back from orbit to a tower catch on November 14.
- Reuse depth: Falcon 9 reuses its first stage and both fairing halves, and one booster, B1067, reached a record 37 flights on August 25, 2026. Starship is designed to recover and refly its own upper stage as well. It recovered one for the first time on November 14, 2026, when the launch tower caught the Flight 15 ship, but it has not yet reflown one.
- Payload class: SpaceX's public documents give 22,000 to 22,800 kg to low Earth orbit for a fully expendable Falcon 9 and direct customers to request mission-specific performance when the booster returns. Starship targets more than 100 tonnes fully reusable, a number it has yet to demonstrate.
- Transition: the heavier Starlink V3 satellites are designed to launch only on Starship. The first 20 flew on a suborbital path on Flight 13 in July 2026, Flight 14 put 26 into orbit on September 28, and Flight 15 added 26 more on November 13. SpaceX's own constellation is the anchor customer forcing the handover: after August 25, 2026, the company stopped launching Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 from Florida, saying those missions would move to Starship, and its executives have described 2025 and 2026 as Falcon's peak.
Side-by-side specifications
| Falcon 9 | Starship | |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | SpaceX | SpaceX |
| Country | United States | United States |
| First flight | June 4, 2010 | - |
| Height | 70 m with standard fairing | 124.4 m (V3); about 121 m (V1); 123 m (V2) |
| Diameter | 3.7 m | 9 m |
| Liftoff mass | 549,054 kg on SpaceX's vehicle page | - |
| Published LEO payload | 22,000-22,800 kg, fully expendable | - |
| Stages | 2 | 2 (Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage) |
| Status | Active | Flight testing; 15 integrated tests, first orbital flight on September 28, 2026, first ship catch on November 14, 2026 |
| Physical liftoffs | 702 through November 12, 2026 | - |
| Successful first-stage landings | 653 through November 12, 2026 | - |
| First integrated flight | - | April 20, 2023 |
| Current version | - | Version 3 (V3) |
| Engines | - | 33 booster and 6 ship Raptor engines (V3) |
| Propellants | - | Liquid oxygen and liquid methane |
| Payload to LEO | - | 100+ metric tonnes (V3 design target, not demonstrated) |
| Operational launch site | - | Starbase, Texas |
Figures come from each article's infobox; see the articles for sources and context.
Sources
- Falcon 9 launch catalog - Jonathan McDowell, GCAT
- Falcon 9 vehicle page - SpaceX
- SpaceX launches Starlink mission on a Falcon booster's record-breaking 37th flight - Spaceflight Now
- SpaceX launches 80th Starlink mission of 2026 - Spaceflight Now
- Starship vehicle page - SpaceX
- Starship Flight 13 test flight report - Spaceflight Now
- Starship returns to Earth; rocket splashes down north of Hawaii after three-hour flight - Spaceflight Now
- Starship in orbit ahead of catch attempt, booster diverts to explosive splashdown - Spaceflight Now
- SpaceX catches a Starship - SpacePolicyOnline
- Starlink Version 3 satellites - Starlink
- Gwynne Shotwell interview - TIME