SpaceX is turning away Falcon 9 rocket customers and focusing on Starship
SpaceX flew over half of all 2025 spaceflights to low Earth orbit.
The short version
- Customers are now paying extra to secure the last remaining Falcon 9 seats.
- SpaceX is turning away clients to shift resources toward its bigger Starship rocket.
SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk, is turning away customers for its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket and leaving companies scrambling for launch slots. More than 50% of the nearly 330 spaceflights to low Earth orbit in 2025 relied on the Falcon 9 rocket.
For the past 16 years, the rocket has launched environmental monitoring satellites, map imaging sensors, and crew capsules to the International Space Station. According to Fortune, SpaceX began turning away commercial satellite customers as the company shifts resources to focus on developing its larger Starship rocket.
Almost overnight, the shift threatens to freeze the pipeline of launches that the commercial space economy relies on. Some customers who can still afford it are paying extra to secure the very last remaining slots on the Falcon 9. Other satellite operators are scrambling for alternatives, booking slots on upcoming medium-lift rockets like Rocket Lab's Neutron rocket or turning to the European Space Agency's Ariane 6 rocket.
SpaceX remains contractually obligated to fly NASA crew rotations and national security payloads, but the rest of the industry is forced to navigate the bottleneck. When a single company controls the gate to space, its internal corporate decisions can make or break an entire industry.
Photo: NASA/SpaceX, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
