SpaceX Kicks Falcon 9 To The Curb By 2028 For Giant Starship

SpaceX has quietly begun turning away satellite operators looking to book launches on the trusty Falcon 9 past 2028. Manufacturing lines for single-use Falcon components are already winding down, including the massive upper stage, signaling that the company is burning the boats behind it.

The company has also slammed the brakes on its popular rideshare program for future years, leaving small satellite startups hunting for alternate rides to orbit. Only NASA and the Pentagon might still get a pass to fly on the older rocket due to rigid government contracts.

This aggressive pivot hinges entirely on Starship, a stainless-steel giant that is still working through explosive growing pains. Wall Street is visibly sweating over the timeline, pushing shares down to around $118 following the recent public offering as investors weigh the risks of forcing commercial clients onto an unproven system.

Despite the market jitters, testing moves at breakneck speed. The 13th test flight put 20 mock Starlink satellites into orbit while testing heat shield endurance, ending with Super Heavy landing in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship splashing into the Indian Ocean.

The retiring workhorse leaves behind an absurd legacy of orbital dominance. Since its debut back in 2010, Falcon 9 completed 678 successful missions out of 681 attempts, single-handedly turning reusable rocketry into routine reality.

Forcing the entire commercial satellite industry to leap onto an unfinished behemoth rocket is either the ultimate power move or a catastrophic gamble. Space logistics will either become ten times cheaper overnight or collapse into an epic bottleneck of delayed orbital launches.

Source: Bloomberg