Falcon 1
Falcon 1 was SpaceX's first orbital launch vehicle, a two-stage liquid-propellant small launcher flown five times from Omelek Island between 2006 and 2009. Its first stage used a Merlin engine and its second stage used a Kestrel engine. The fourth flight became the first privately developed and privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit, and the fifth and final flight deployed Malaysia's RazakSAT spacecraft.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Falcon 1 launch vehicleFalcon-1
- Family Name
- Falcon 1
- Full Name
- Falcon 1
- Status
- retired
- Type
- rocket
Details
- Description
- Falcon 1 was SpaceX's first orbital launch vehicle, a two-stage liquid-propellant small launcher flown five times from Omelek Island between 2006 and 2009. Its first stage used a Merlin engine and its second stage used a Kestrel engine. The fourth flight became the first privately developed and privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit, and the fifth and final flight deployed Malaysia's RazakSAT spacecraft.
- Dimensions
- Diameter
- …
- Height
- …
- First Flight Year
- 2,006
- Last Flight Year
- 2,009
- Manufacturer
- Operator
- Parent Vehicle Family
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- core
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Variant Notes
- SpaceX Falcon 1 User’s Guide flight configuration: one Merlin 1C first-stage engine.
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- upper-stage
- Variant Notes
- SpaceX Falcon 1 User’s Guide flight configuration: one Kestrel 2 upper-stage engine.
- Name
- Falcon 1 Flight 3/4
- Notes
- SpaceX Falcon 1 User’s Guide identifies Merlin 1C on the first stage and Kestrel 2 on the second stage for the flight-proven configuration; this named entry is the canonical precision configuration.
- Entries
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- core
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- first-stage
- Variant Notes
- NASA Space Launch Report identifies one Merlin 1A on Falcon 1 Flight 1.
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- upper-stage
- Stage
- second-stage
- Variant Notes
- NASA MARS environmental assessment identifies SpaceX Kestrel as the Falcon 1 second-stage engine.
- Name
- Falcon 1 Flight 1
- Notes
- NASA Space Launch Report identifies Merlin 1A on Falcon 1 Flight 1, while NASA MARS environmental assessment identifies Kestrel as the Falcon 1 second-stage engine. This exact entry records Flight 1 and does not infer the Flight 2 engine designation.
- Rocket Specs
- Liftoff Mass
- …
- Payload Capacity
- LEO
- …
- Reusability
- partially_reusable
- Stages Count
- 2
- Strap On Boosters Count
- 0
Links
- Official Url
- https://www.spacex.com/launches/razaksat
- Wikipedia Url
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_1
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 14, 2026 at 00:59:49 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 15, 2026 at 04:57:44 UTC
- Image
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