10 Years Ago Today, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Blasted Off for the First Time

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has certainly earned its place in history. Falcon 9 is the first orbital class rocket to be reused and the first commercial rocket to ferry human passengers to the ISS.

Each two-stage Falcon 9 rocket is powered by a first stage with a suite of nine Merlin engines, which use kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen propellants, and a second stage powered by a single Merlin vacuum engine. The 230-foot-tall rocket weighs a staggering 1,207,920 pounds and can shuttle a payload weighing 50,265 pounds to low-Earth orbit and a payload of 8,860 pounds to Mars. At sea-level, Falcon 9 can generate a whopping 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

June 4th marks 10 years since the rocket’s inaugural test flight. Since 2010, Falcon 9 has launched 84 times and has safely returned to Earth 45 times. Thirty-one of those rockets have been recycled and flown again. Falcon 9’s reusability revolutionized spaceflight, making it cheaper and more efficient.