SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket completed its 450th mission

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket completed its 450th mission on March 20, 2025, launching the NROL-57 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

The NROL-57 mission lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 20, 2025, at 11:49 p.m. PDT (2:49 a.m. EDT, 0649 UTC on March 21).

It deployed an unspecified number of satellites for the NRO’s “proliferated architecture” constellation, likely Starshield satellites a government version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites developed in partnership with Northrop Grumman.

This marked the eighth launch in this series, contributing to what the NRO calls “the largest and most capable government constellation” in U.S. history, with over 150 satellites launched in the past two years.

The Falcon 9 booster used in this mission, tail number B1088, completed its second flight in just over nine days, breaking the previous record for the fastest turnaround of a Falcon 9 first stage (previously 13.5 days). B1088 had previously launched NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions on March 11, 2025.

After the NROL-57 launch, it successfully landed at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg, marking the 26th landing at that site and the 421st overall Falcon 9 booster landing. This rapid reuse highlights SpaceX’s advancements in refurbishment and cost-cutting technology.

Falcon 9, a partially reusable two-stage medium-lift rocket, first launched on June 4, 2010. As of March 21, 2025, it has successfully completed 462 out of 465 flights, achieving a 99.35% success rate.

Powered by Merlin engines using liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1), its first stage can return and land vertically—a capability first demonstrated in December 2015. This reusability has significantly reduced the cost of space access, with some boosters flying up to 26 missions, a record set earlier in 2025.

This 450th mission is part of a busy year for SpaceX, which conducted 134 Falcon family launches in 2024 and has maintained a high pace into 2025. The rocket’s versatility is evident in its diverse payloads, including Starlink satellites, commercial and military satellites, and crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS). It is human-rated for NASA missions and certified for national security and scientific payloads, such as the SPHEREx observatory launched earlier in March.

The significance of this milestone lies not just in the number but in what it represents: a transformation in spaceflight economics and reliability. X posts from March 26, 2025, reflect public sentiment, praising Falcon 9’s reliability and SpaceX’s leadership in reusable rocketry, with some users speculating about future goals like Mars exploration.

While the 450th mission is confirmed as March 20, some sources mistakenly cite February 21, possibly confusing it with an earlier Starlink launch. Nonetheless, the NROL-57 mission is officially recognized as the 450th.