Launch Photos: SpaceX's Next-Gen Falcon 9 Rocket Soars on 1st Flight

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket V 1.1: Launch View Down

SpaceX

A camera aboard SpaceX's first upgraded Falcon 9 rocket shows the view down after launching from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sept. 29, 2013. [Read the Full Story Here]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket V 1.1: Split View

SpaceX

A split view of the first upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands poised to launch from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sept. 29, 2013. [Read the Full Story Here]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket V 1.1 Ready

SpaceX

An upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands poised to launch from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sept. 29, 2013. [Read the Full Story Here]

CASSIOPE Satellite Artist's Concept

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.

Artist's concept of the Cascade Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) satellite. The Canadian Space Agency satellite launched into orbit aboard SpaceX's new upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. [Read the Full Story Here]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Octaweb

SpaceX

The new circular Octaweb engine arrangement of SpaceX's nine Falcon 9 Merlin 1D engines is seen in this image. [Read the Full Story Here]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket V 1.1

SpaceX

An upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands poised to launch from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in September 2013. Liftoff set for Sept. 29, 2013. [Read the Full Story Here]

SpaceX New Falcon 9 Engine Test

SpaceX

SpaceX's new upgraded Falcon 9 rocket undergoes an static fire engine test on Sept. 19, 2013 ahead of a Sept. 29 launch testfrom Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. [Read the Full Story Here]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket V 1.1 Atop Pad

SpaceX

An upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands poised to launch from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in September 2013. Liftoff set for Sept. 29, 2013. [Read the Full Story Here]

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.