SpaceX will launch fewer Falcon 9 rockets next year, marking a clear pivot toward its ambitious Starship program. The company plans around 140 to 145 Falcon 9 flights in 2026, down from 165 launches in 2025, as confirmed by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.
This reduction reflects SpaceX’s strategy to funnel resources into Starship, their massive next-gen spacecraft designed for lunar and Mars missions. The transition is especially visible at Florida’s Launch Complex 39A, where infrastructure is being adapted to support Starship operations along with some Falcon Heavy missions.
Supporting this shift, SpaceX retired one of its two Florida-based droneships, repurposing it to aid Starship’s transport logistics. Meanwhile, California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base is becoming the new hub for Falcon 9 activity, primarily focusing on Starlink satellite deployments.
Starship remains in its flight testing phase, with Flight 13 scheduled for July 24, 2026, from the Starbase facility in Texas. NASA has already contracted Starship as the lunar lander for its Artemis program, giving SpaceX a key customer as they push development forward.
Despite the Starship focus, Falcon 9 still holds unique status as the only American crew vehicle certified to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, a role it’s expected to continue into the early 2030s. Boeing’s Starliner was meant to complement this, but delays in its development leave Falcon 9 as the sole option for US human spaceflight to the ISS.
