Falcon 9 v1.1

Falcon 9 v1.1

Launch of the 9th Falcon 9 v1.1 with the SpaceX CRS-5 on 10 January 2015. This rocket was equipped with landing legs and grid fins.
Function	Orbital medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	$56.5M (2013) – 61.2M (2015)[1]
Size
Height	68.4 m (224 ft)[2]
Diameter	3.66 m (12.0 ft)[2]
Mass	505,846 kg (1,115,200 lb)[2]
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO (28.5°)
Mass	13,150 kg (28,990 lb)[2] 10,886 kg (24,000 lb) (PAF structural limitation)[3]
Payload to GTO (27°)
Mass	4,850 kg (10,690 lb)[2]
Associated rockets
Family	Falcon 9
Derivative work	Falcon 9 Full Thrust
Comparable	Atlas V 401 H-IIA Long March 3B
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral SLC-40 Vandenberg SLC-4E
Total launches	15
Success(es)	14
Failure(s)	1
Landings	0 / 3 attempts
First flight	29 September 2013[4]
Last flight	17 January 2016
Type of passengers/cargo	Dragon, DSCOVR
First stage
Powered by	9x Merlin 1D
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 5,885 kN (1,323,000 lbf)[2] Vacuum: 6,672 kN (1,500,000 lbf)[2]
Specific impulse	Sea level: 282 seconds[5] Vacuum: 311 seconds[5]
Burn time	180 seconds[2]
Propellant	LOX / RP-1
Second stage
Powered by	1x Merlin 1D Vacuum
Maximum thrust	716 kN (161,000 lbf)[6]
Specific impulse	340 seconds[2]
Burn time	375 seconds[2]
Propellant	LOX / RP-1
[edit on Wikidata]

Falcon 9 v1.1 was the second version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. The rocket was developed in 2011–2013, made its maiden launch in September 2013,^[7] and its final flight in January 2016.^[8] The Falcon 9 rocket was fully designed, manufactured, and operated by SpaceX. Following the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) launch, the initial version Falcon 9 v1.0 was retired from use and replaced by the v1.1 version.

Falcon 9 v1.1 was a significant evolution from Falcon 9 v1.0, with 60 percent more thrust and weight. Its maiden flight carried out a demonstration mission with the CASSIOPE satellite on 29 September 2013, the sixth overall launch of any Falcon 9.^[9]

Both stages of the two-stage-to-orbit vehicle used liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellants.^[10] The Falcon 9 v1.1 could lift payloads of 13,150 kilograms (28,990 lb) to low Earth orbit, and 4,850 kilograms (10,690 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit,^[1] which places the Falcon 9 design in the medium-lift range of launch systems.^[11]

Beginning in April 2014, the Dragon capsules were propelled by Falcon 9 v1.1 to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.^[12] This version was also intended to ferry astronauts to the ISS under a NASA Commercial Crew Development contract signed in September 2014^[13] but those missions are now scheduled to use the upgraded Falcon 9 Full Thrust version, first flown in December 2015.

Falcon 9 v1.1 was notable for pioneering the development of reusable rockets, whereby SpaceX gradually refined technologies for first-stage boostback, atmospheric re-entry, controlled descent and eventual propulsive landing. This last goal was achieved on the first flight of the successor variant Falcon 9 Full Thrust, after several near-successes with Falcon 9 v1.1.