SpaceX Turns Away Falcon 9 Customers for Starship

In July 2026, satellite operators reported that SpaceX had begun refusing Falcon 9 bookings to focus resources on Starship, even though Falcon 9 flew over half of 2025's roughly 330 orbital launches. Customers are paying premiums for the last remaining slots or turning to Ariane 6 and Rocket Lab's Neutron.

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SpaceX's Falcon 9, which carried more than half of 2025's low Earth orbit launches, is being deprioritized in favor of Starship, which removes the market's default medium-lift option. Customers that can afford it are paying premiums for the few remaining slots, while others look to Ariane 6 and Rocket Lab's Neutron. Alternative launch providers gain pricing power and demand, but none currently matches Falcon 9's cadence, price and flight heritage. Satellite operators face higher launch costs, rebooking delays and costs to redesign payloads for other rockets. The shift also revives concern about a single point of failure in US space access and may prompt NASA and other agencies to spread payloads across more providers.