By Jeff Foust
PARIS — The satellite industry is coming to grips with SpaceX’s plans to end commercial Falcon 9 launches in the next few years, creating a significant, if temporary, gap in access to orbit.
In conversations both on- and off-stage at the World Space Business Week conference last week, executives said the expected end of Falcon 9 commercial launches is creating “panic” among companies that had relied on the rocket and are now struggling to find alternatives.
SpaceX has not made a formal announcement of plans to end commercial sales of the Falcon 9, a rocket that has flown about 700 times and become a workhorse for companies, government agencies and SpaceX itself, which uses the rocket to launch its Starlink constellation. The company, though, has made it clear it will phase out the rocket as Starship begins orbital launches.
“We definitely want to move from the older technology to the newer technology,” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at the All-In Summit last week when asked about the future of Falcon 9. “If we don’t obsolete our own products and services, someone’s going to find a way to obsolete them for us.”
Earlier this year, industry officials said that SpaceX was no longer accepting reservations for rideshare missions beyond late 2028 or early 2029. At last week’s conference, executives said that it is now effectively impossible to purchase a Falcon 9 for any commercial mission.
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