List of failed SpaceX launches

Since March 2006,[1] SpaceX has had 5 complete failures,[1][2][3][4][5] 4 partial failures,[6][7][8] and 1 partial success,[9] for a total of 10 failed launches. Since they have had 157 launches,[10][11][12][13] that gives them a success rate of 93.6%.[14][15] This make SpaceX rockets some of the most reliable rockets, despite these failures.[16]

Launch attempts

Falcon 1
Flight No. Date / time (UTC) Launch site Payload Payload mass Orbit Customers Launch outcome Launch video
1 24 March 2006, 22:30 Omelek Island FalconSAT-2 19.5 kg LEO (Planned) DARPA Failure [video 1]
Engine failure at T+33 seconds. Loss of vehicle.[17] FalconSAT-2 landed in a storage shed near the launch site.[18]
2 21 March 2007, 01:10 Omelek Island DemoSat LEO (Planned) DARPA Failure [video 2]
Successful first-stage burn and transition to second stage, maximal altitude 289 km. Harmonic oscillation at T+5 minutes. Premature engine shutdown at T+7 min 30 s. Failed to reach orbit.[19]
3 3 August 2008, 03:34[20] Omelek Island Trailblazer
PRESat
NanoSail-D
Explorers		 4 kg LEO (Planned) ORS
NASA
NASA
Celestis[21]		 Failure [video 3]
Residual stage-1 thrust led to collision between stage 1 and stage 2.[22]

Falcon 9
Flight No. Date and

time (UTC)

 Version,Booster [lower-alpha 1] Launch site Payload[lower-alpha 2] Payload mass Orbit Customer Launch outcome Boosterlanding
4 8 October 2012,

00:35[23]

 F9 v1.0[24] B0006[25] CCAFS,

SLC-40

 SpaceX CRS-1[26](Dragon C103) 4,700 kg (10,400 lb) (excl. Dragon mass) LEO (ISS) NASA (CRS) Success No attempt
Orbcomm-OG2[27] 172 kg (379 lb)[28] LEO Orbcomm Partial failure[29]
CRS-1 was successful, but the secondary payload was inserted into an abnormally low orbit and subsequently lost. This was due to one of the nine Merlin engines shutting down during the launch, and NASA declining a second reignition, as per ISS visiting vehicle safety rules, the primary payload owner is contractually allowed to decline a second reignition. NASA stated that this was because SpaceX could not guarantee a high enough likelihood of the second stage completing the second burn successfully which was required to avoid any risk of secondary payload's collision with the ISS.[30][31][32]
5 28 June 2015,

14:21[23][33]

 F9 v1.1B1018[25] Cape Canaveral,

LC-40

 SpaceX CRS-7[34](Dragon C109) 1,952 kg (4,303 lb)[35] (excl. Dragon mass) LEO (ISS) NASA (CRS) Failure[36]
(in flight)		 Precluded[37]

(drone ship)

Launch performance was nominal until an overpressure incident in the second-stage LOX tank, leading to vehicle breakup at T+150 seconds. Dragon capsule survived the explosion but was lost upon splashdown as its software did not contain provisions for parachute deployment on launch vehicle failure.[38](more details below) The drone ship Of Course I Still Love You was towed out to sea to prepare for a landing test so this mission was its first operational assignment.[39]
6 [lower-alpha 3] 3 September 2016,

07:00 (planned)[40]

 F9 FT

B1028[41]

 Cape Canaveral,

LC-40

 Amos-6[42] 5,500 kg (12,100 lb) GTO Spacecom Precluded
(failure pre-flight)		 Precluded

(drone ship)

The rocket and the Amos-6 payload were lost in a launch pad explosion on 1 September 2016 during propellant filling procedures prior to a static fire test.[43] The pad was clear of personnel, and there were no injuries.[44] SpaceX released an official statement in January 2017 indicating that the cause of the failure was a buckled liner in several of the Composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) (used to store helium which pressurize the stage's propellant tanks), causing perforations that allowed liquid and/or solid oxygen to accumulate underneath the lining, which was ignited by friction.[45] Following the explosion, SpaceX has switched to performing static fire tests only without attached payloads.(more details below)

Starship
Flight
No.		 Date and time
(UTC)		 Vehicle Launch site[lower-alpha 4] Flight apogee Duration Launch outcome
7 9 December 2020[46] 22:45 Starship SN8 Suborbital Pad A, Boca Chica, Texas 12.5 km (41,000 ft)[47] 6 minutes, 42 seconds Partial failure
Three Raptor engines, SN30, SN36, and SN42.[48] The vehicle successfully launched, ascended, performed the skydive descent maneuver, relit the engines fueled by the header tanks, and steered to the landing pad.[47] The flip maneuver from horizontal descent to vertical was successful. However, a sudden pressure loss in the methane header tank caused by the flip maneuver reduced fuel supply and thrust, resulting in a hard landing and destruction of SN8.[47]
8 2 February 2021[49] 20:25 Starship SN9 Suborbital Pad B, Boca Chica, Texas 10 km (32,800 ft)[50][49][51] 6 minutes, 26 seconds[51] Partial failure
Three Raptor engines, including SN45 and SN49.[51][52][53][54] A Raptor failed to start due to a problem with its oxygen-rich preburner, causing SN9 to over-rotate and hit the landing pad at a 40 degree angle. The vehicle was destroyed by the impact forces and explosion.
9 3 March 2021[55][56] 23:15 Starship SN10 Suborbital Pad A, Boca Chica, Texas 10 km (32,800 ft)[57] 6 minutes, 24 seconds[58][lower-alpha 5] Partial success
SN10 experienced a hard landing with a slight lean after the landing and a fire near the base of the rocket,[61] and then exploded eight minutes after landing.[57] SN10 did not deaccelerate enough, resulting in a hard landing damaging some legs and crushing part of the skirt. The cause was probably due to partial helium ingestion from the fuel header tank.[59]
10 30 March 2021 13:00[62] Starship SN11 Suborbital Pad B, Boca Chica, Texas 10 km (32,800 ft)[63] ~6 minutes[62] Partial failure
SN11 launched in heavy fog, and had engine issues during ascent (according to Elon Musk).[64] Telemetry was lost at T+5:49, shortly after the defective engine was ignited for the landing burn at an altitude of around 600 meters.[65] Debris were then seen falling from the sky, indicating that the vehicle had exploded just above the landing site.[66] Elon Musk stated that a "relatively small" methane leak caused a fire on one of the Raptor engines which damaged it, causing hard start attempting landing burn and destruction of SN11.[67]

Videos
  1. Falcon 1 Flight 1 on YouTube
  2. Falcon 1 DemoFlight 2 Launch on YouTube
  3. Falcon 1 Flight 3 Launch Video on YouTube

Notes
  1. Falcon 9 first-stage boosters are designated with a construction serial number and an optional flight number when reused, e.g. B1021.1 and B1021.2 represent the two flights of booster B1021. Launches using reused boosters are denoted with a recycled symbol ♺.
  2. Dragon 1 or 2 are designated with a construction serial number or name and an optional flight number when reused, e.g. Dragon C106.1 and Dragon C106.2 represent the two flights of Dragon C106. Dragon spacecraft that are reused are denoted with a recycled symbol ♺.
  3. Since it was a pre-flight test, SpaceX does not count this scheduled attempt in their launch totals. Some sources do consider this planned flight into the counting schemes, and as a result, some sources might list launch totals after 2016 with one additional launch.
  4. All launches are from the same Boca Chica site. SpaceX started calling this Starbase from March 2021 after discussions called a "casual inquiry". See Boca Chica (Texas) § Starbase
  5. Despite making an intact landing and beginning the detanking procedures, the vehicle suffered an explosion several minutes later destroying the vehicle in the process. SpaceX called it a successful landing but later acknowledged a problem with lower-than-expected engine thrust causing a hard landing[59] way past leg loads[60] and the vehicle exploded.[56]

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