Falcon 9 Credit - NASA

In September 2006 SpaceX was named as one of two winners of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition. The SpaceX award was $278 million for three flight demonstrations of the Falcon 9 booster carrying the Dragon space capsule. These were to occur in 2009.

Reliability of the Falcon 9 was assured by a hold-before-release system – the Falcon was held down and could not be released for flight until all propulsion and vehicle systems were confirmed to be operating normally. An automatic safe shut-down and unloading of propellant occurred if any off nominal conditions are detected. A Kevlar shield protects each engine from debris in the event of its neighbor failing. All Falcon designs had only two stages and only one stage separation event – the minimum practical. All stage separation bolts were all dual initiated, fully space qualified, and had a zero failure track record in prior launch vehicles. Guidance was by triple redundant flight computers and inertial navigation, with a GPS overlay for additional orbit insertion accuracy. The engines, structural materials and design principles, avionics and launch system were all to have been proven on earlier Falcon 1 flights before the first Falcon 9 was ever launched.

The Falcon 9 first and second stage tank walls and domes were made from aluminum 2219, using all friction stir welding. The interstage was made of a carbon fiber honeycomb structure. The separation system consisted of pyrotechnic release bolts and pneumatic separation pushers. Although in-flight failures are very rarely explosive, a Kevlar shield protects each engine from debris in the event of its neighbor failing.

Manufacturer: SpaceX. LEO Payload: 8,000 kg (17,600 lb). to: 350 km Orbit. at: 52.00 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 3,400.000 kN (764,300 lbf). Total Mass: 290,000 kg (630,000 lb). Core Diameter: 3.60 m (11.80 ft). Total Length: 53.00 m (173.00 ft). Span: 3.60 m (11.80 ft). Boost Propulsion: Lox/Kerosene. Boost engine: Merlin. Cruise Propulsion: Lox/Kerosene. Cruise engine: Kestrel. Cruise Thrust: 66.600 kN (14,972 lbf). Development Cost $: 378.000 million. in: 2008 average dollars. Launch Price $: 25.000 million. in: 2006 price dollars. Cost comments: Development cost includes both the Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft, and three test flights.