SpaceX has officially hit a monumental milestone by launching its 500th mission with the trusty Falcon 9 rocket.
Early this morning at 1:04 AM local time, the rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying the Dror 1 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite, developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), will orbit Earth every 30 hours at an altitude of about 36,000 km, with a planned mission lifespan of 15 years.
This launch was part of SpaceX’s Commercial GTO (Geostationary Transfer Orbit) mission and marked the 13th flight of this particular Falcon 9 booster. It had previously been used for major missions including NASA’s Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, a NASA cargo delivery, and seven Starlink satellite deployments.
Falcon 9 made its debut back in June 2010 with a simple payload and no propulsive landing tech. At the time, the booster was equipped with a parachute that failed to deploy correctly. It wasn’t until 2014 that Falcon 9 made history by softly landing in the ocean using its engines – a groundbreaking achievement that set the stage for reusable rocket technology.
Since then, Falcon 9 has become the most frequently launched orbital-class rocket in the world. It’s the only rocket capable of multiple reuses thanks to its precision landings. The vast majority of Falcon 9 missions now support SpaceX’s Starlink initiative, which boasts over 7,000 satellites in orbit and counting.
Fifteen IAI scientists were present at the Florida launch site to witness the historic liftoff of Dror 1, making this a proud moment not only for SpaceX but for international cooperation in space innovation. The 500th launch underscores how far Falcon 9 has come – from experimental beginnings to becoming the backbone of modern spaceflight.