About SpaceX Launches
Following SpaceX launches in one feed
This page narrows the global launch schedule to missions associated with SpaceX and common SpaceX launch systems such as Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship. It is not a separate manually edited calendar; it is a filtered view of the same live upcoming-launch data used elsewhere on SpaceTracker.live. That keeps dates, pads, status and countdown behaviour consistent across the site.
Falcon 9 accounts for many commercial, government, rideshare, crew and cargo missions. Falcon Heavy appears less frequently and is generally used when a mission needs performance beyond a standard Falcon 9 profile. Starship is handled here as part of the SpaceX family but also has its own dedicated page because development-flight schedules can behave very differently from routine Falcon operations.
Why SpaceX launch times often change
Weather at the launch pad is only one constraint. Falcon missions can also depend on upper-level winds, recovery-zone conditions, drone-ship readiness, range safety, spacecraft issues or a previous mission affecting pad turnaround. Crew and station missions add rendezvous and orbital-phasing requirements. Starship campaigns can add test, regulatory and site-readiness dependencies.
For that reason, the countdown should be treated as a live schedule indicator. If the target changes upstream, the fifteen-minute cache and browser refresh cycle update the page without requiring a manual content edit. Once the window has passed, the old mission no longer remains at the top of the upcoming list.
Launch images, pads and mission details
The cards prefer the image attached to the specific SpaceX launch record. If no launch image is available, imagery associated with the pad, location or provider can be shown instead. This is useful because Falcon missions can depart from different pads in Florida or California, while Starship operations are associated with a different launch environment.
Provider, rocket and site are shown as separate fields even when all clearly point to SpaceX. That structure becomes important for missions carrying NASA or other government payloads, where the spacecraft programme and the launch provider are not the same organisation.
Where to go after a SpaceX launch
If a Falcon mission deploys Starlink or other satellites, the satellite tools become more useful after orbital elements appear. Recently Launched Satellites can help identify newly catalogued objects, and individual trackers can follow selected spacecraft. Crew or cargo missions to a space station may be better followed through station-related tools and official mission coverage.
For Starship-only interest, use the dedicated Starship Launches page. For every provider and country, return to Rocket Launch Schedule. The SpaceX page is intentionally a focused entry point, not a replacement for the broader worldwide manifest.
How to interpret a busy SpaceX manifest
SpaceX can have multiple missions in the upcoming feed at the same time, sometimes from different coasts and using different pads. The earliest card is not necessarily connected to the mission you were already following. Check the payload or mission name as well as the rocket family. A Starlink deployment, a rideshare mission, a government launch and a crewed flight can all appear close together while having very different operational constraints.
Reusability can also influence the information visitors look for, but this page does not infer booster assignment or landing outcomes when the upstream record does not provide reliable details. Its primary job is schedule tracking. For a completed mission, official SpaceX coverage and later orbital catalogues are better sources for confirming what actually flew, landed or deployed.
For satellite objects that have already reached orbit, use Recently Launched Satellites. For wider orbital tracking, open the Satellite Directory or the Deep Space section.
SpaceX launch vehicles
| Vehicle | Notable feature | Main launch sites |
|---|---|---|
| Falcon 9 | Reusable first stage; about 22.8 tonnes to low Earth orbit when expendable | Cape Canaveral SLC-40, Kennedy LC-39A, Vandenberg SLC-4E |
| Falcon Heavy | Three Falcon 9 cores; about 63.8 tonnes to low Earth orbit | Kennedy LC-39A |
| Starship | Fully reusable two-stage design under development | Starbase, Texas |
Falcon boosters typically land on a drone ship or a landing zone. A schedule entry that mentions a landing is a recovery attempt, not part of the payload delivery.
SpaceX milestones
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 28 Sep 2008 | Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach orbit |
| May 2012 | Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the ISS |
| 21 Dec 2015 | First landing of a Falcon 9 first stage on land |
| 6 Feb 2018 | First Falcon Heavy launch |
| 30 May 2020 | Crew Dragon Demo-2 carries NASA astronauts, the first crewed orbital launch from US soil since 2011 |
Reusing boosters lowers cost per flight, which is a major reason the launch manifest has grown so busy.
Sources: official launch records from the respective agencies and companies.
Data, update and accuracy details
- Data source: the Launch Library 2 database from The Space Devs, which aggregates launch-provider announcements.
- How often data refreshes: the schedule is cached on our server for up to 15 minutes; refresh the page to see the newest cached copy.
- Accuracy: launch times can change at short notice because of weather, range conflicts or technical checks. The page shows the planned time and its precision label; it is not a live telemetry or webcast feed. Confirm critical plans, such as travelling to a viewing site, with the launch provider.
Content last reviewed: 30 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Which SpaceX rockets are included?
The filter matches upcoming events associated with SpaceX and commonly listed SpaceX vehicles such as Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship.
Does this page include Starship tests?
Starship-labelled upcoming launch events can appear here and are also collected on the dedicated Starship Launches page.
Are SpaceX launch dates guaranteed?
No. Schedules remain subject to vehicle readiness, weather, range approval and regulatory or mission constraints.
Can I see a SpaceX launch from where I live?
From the Space Coast or the central California coast, a Falcon 9 is easy to see. Within about 250 km you can usually watch it climb on a clear day; at night or in twilight a launch can be seen 800 km or more away as a bright moving light or a glowing “jellyfish” plume. Use the checker on this page for your own distance, direction and sky conditions.
Did SpaceX launch today?
The “Latest SpaceX results” table on this page lists the most recent launches with their outcome and booster landing. It is refreshed about once an hour; for a launch that happened minutes ago, check SpaceX’s live webcast.
Where do Falcon 9 boosters land?
Most boosters land on a drone ship at sea: “A Shortfall of Gravitas” and “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic, and “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific. Lighter missions can return to a landing zone near the launch site, which creates sonic booms heard along the coast.
Why is there no exact time for some SpaceX launches?
Many future missions only have a target month or quarter. SpaceX publishes the exact window closer to launch, usually a few days before. Until then the page shows the broad target instead of a countdown.
Launch schedule and associated imagery: Launch Library 2, The Space Devs. SpaceTracker.live uses a shared server-side cache and retains image credits when provided by the source record.