Total Mission Counter: 131

This is a simple cumulative total of all SpaceX missions ever attempted, including those that were ultimately unsuccessful. The Falcon 9 went through several variations before the most powerful, and final, iteration – the Block 5 – made its debut in 2018. SpaceX intends to re-use as many Block 5 boosters as possible, to save on manufacturing costs. This will free up resources for other projects such as Starship.

SpaceX Missions by Rocket Type

The Falcon 9 rocket is currently the main workhorse for SpaceX. It accounts for 123 of the company’s 131 missions (that’s 93.89%), and has a 98.37% success rate, having only 2 failures ever. The Falcon 1 was retired back in 2009, whereas the Falcon Heavy has only flown three missions so far. More missions are planned for the future.

SpaceX Missions by Launch Location

Although Cape Canaveral pad 40 has seen the most SpaceX launches, the company did not sign a lease for Kennedy LC-39A until 2014. The first launches from there were not until 2017. Conversely, Omelek Island was only ever used for Falcon 1 launches from 2006-2009.

First Stage Booster Landings by Location

This chart shows the outcome of the various attempts to land first-stage boosters, both at sea and on land. The abbreviations used here are the same as those used, and explained, on the launch list page. The bulk of the landings have occurred on the 2 drone ships “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic Ocean (although as of summer 2021 it is being repositioned in the Pacific to assist with polar launches of Starlink from Vandenberg), and “Just Read The Instructions”, originally deployed in the Pacific, but moved to the Atlantic to support increased flight cadence out of Florida in 2020. To add confusion, SpaceX originally had another ship also called “Just Read The Instructions”. It is included here (“JRTI-O”) for completeness but never saw a successful landing. The first successful landing was actually in December 2015 at Landing Zone 1 in Florida.

Some Quick-Fire Stats…

The following is an assortment of SpaceX statistics. The quickest pad turnaround time measures the shortest time between two SpaceX missions launching from the same launch pad. Currently Cape Canaveral SLC-40 holds the record (from June 2020). Meanwhile, the total turnaround time is simply the shortest time between any two SpaceX launches (with that record being set in December 2018). Also, note that the booster landings counter does not include controlled attempts out at sea; it must attempt to land on a drone ship or on dry land. Finally the block 5 launches counter includes both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy (and each FH counts as one launch, despite having 3 boosters).

Regarding ISS statistics; When the original Dragon Cargo approached the ISS, it first had to be grabbed by the “Canadarm” robotic arm, and manually attached to the space station. After being secured, the hatch was opened and it was considered berthed. Likewise, when it departed, it was unberthed and manually maneuvered by the Canadarm before being released. Therefore the total time shown below counts from the moment it was first grabbed, to the moment it was released. Berthing time was typically several hours less per mission than total capture time. With the first generation Dragon Cargo now being retired, and replaced by the upgraded Dragon 2, berthing to the ISS is no longer neccessary. Instead it autonomously docks with the space station (no need for the Canadarm). These counters include all missions that visited the ISS – so CRS-1 onwards but excluding CRS-7 (which exploded on launch). Also, it includes COTS Demo 2 mission, with the first Dragon to visit the station. The specific times and cargo amounts for each mission are shown on the respective mission pages.