Recovered fairings from Starlink v1-12 (Credit: Stephen Marr)
SpaceX has been working for years towards recovering and reusing payload fairings. Fairing is a two-piece protective shell made of aluminum and carbon composite at the tip of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Its purpose is to protect the payload from acoustic and atmospheric effects during launch. A Falcon fairing is almost 14 meters tall. Due to its size and the materials used, fairing production is time-consuming and costly (SpaceX produces the fairings in-house and the total cost for two fairing halves is 5 or 6 million dollars). So it is no wonder that the company would like to recover the fairings in order to use them repeatedly, just as it does with its rocket boosters.
Each fairing half is equipped with a steerable parafoil and small thrusters which allow the fairings to reenter the atmosphere intact and guide them toward a recovery zone. In the past, they attempted to land on modified ships Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief equipped with large nets. But this method had low success rate, so the fairings now land in the ocean and are then recovered by ships.
This list of fairing recovery attempts recognizes three generations of fairings: v1.0, v2.0 and v2.5. These are unofficial designations and there might actually be fewer or more fairing types. Version 1.0 was used until early 2018 with only one fairing half containing parachutes. Version 2.0 was used for most of 2018, was slightly wider and both of its halves could be recovered. Version 2.5 is the most recent type which added metal thermal protection on the tip of the fairing. But there may have been additional changes and improvements made since then.
» Much more detailed article about fairing recovery «
Changelog:
- Feb 15, 2025 – Added information about the WorldView Legion 3, Starlink 12-9, 11-10 and 12-18 fairing recoveries
- Feb 8, 2025 – Added information about the Starlink 11-6, 12-7, 11-4, 12-3 and SpainSat-NG I fairing recoveries
- Jan 26, 2025 – Added information about the Blue Ghost M1 / HAKUTO-R M2, Starlink 13-1 and Starlink 11-8 fairing recoveries
- Jan 18, 2025 – Added information about the NROL-153, Starlink 12-11, Starlink 12-4 and Transporter-12 fairing recoveries
- Jan 11, 2025 – Added information about the Thuraya 4-NGS, Starlink 6-71 and 12-11 fairing recoveries; 2024 recoveries moved to a separate page
- Jan 4, 2025 – Added information about the Starlink 11-3, Astranis Block 2 and Starlink 12-6 fairing recoveries; fixed some errors in fairing recoveries from 2023
- Dec 27, 2024 – Added information about the RRT-1, NROL-149, O3b mPOWER 4, Bandwagon-2 and Starlink 12-2 fairing recoveries
Legend: YES means the fairing successfully landed in the net. YES means the fairing missed the net but was then recovered from the ocean intact. YES means the fairing was recovered intact after a PLANNED ocean landing. NO means that the fairing wasn’t recovered intact (regardless of planned landing method). ♺ indicates a reused fairing (asterisk means that only one fairing half was reused).
| Date (UTC) |
Mission |
Target(s) |
Type |
Recovered? |
Reused on |
| 2025-02-11 |
Starlink 12-18 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
YES / YES |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- Bob was deployed for this mission.
- Both fairing halves were recovered from the ocean and brought to Port Canaveral.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 12-18 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-02-11 |
Starlink 11-10 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 703 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- GO Beyond was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 11-10 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-02-08 |
Starlink 12-9 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were likely reused but it hasn’t been confirmed.
- Doug was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 12-9 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-02-05 |
WorldView Legion 3 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 480 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused. One flew for the 23rd time and the other for the 21st time.
- Bob was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to WorldView Legion 3 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-02-04 |
Starlink 12-3 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺? |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were likely reused but it hasn’t been confirmed.
- Doug was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
|
| 2025-02-02 |
Starlink 11-4 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺? |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 703 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- GO Beyond was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 11-4 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-30 |
SpainSat-NG I |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
YES / NO |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 1022 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused. One flew for the 8th time and the other for the 5th time.
- Bob was deployed but brought back only one recovered fairing half.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to SpainSat-NG I launch (Credit: SpaceX)
-
-
Recovered fairing from the SpainSat-NG I mission (Credit: NASA Spaceflight)
|
| 2025-01-27 |
Starlink 12-7 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- Doug was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 12-7 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-24 |
Starlink 11-6 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺? |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 703 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were likely reused but it hasn’t been confirmed.
- Loren C was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 11-6 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-21 |
Starlink 11-8 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 703 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- Loren C was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 11-8 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-21 |
Starlink 13-1 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺? |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were likely reused but it wasn’t confirmed.
- Doug was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
|
| 2025-01-15 |
Blue Ghost M1 / HAKUTO-R M2 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
|
| 2025-01-14 |
Transporter-12 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 581 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused. One flew for the 19th time and the other for the 18th time.
- Loren C was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Transporter-12 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-13 |
Starlink 12-4 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
SpainSat-NG I / ? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- Doug was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 12-4 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-10 |
Starlink 12-12 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- Bob was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 12-12 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-10 |
NROL-153 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 685 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused. One flew for the 16th time and the other for the 9th time.
- Loren C was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to NROL-153 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-08 |
Starlink 12-11 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
UNCLEAR |
? |
- Landing took place in the Atlantic approximately 670 km downrange.
- Both fairing halves were reused but we don’t know how many times.
- Doug was deployed but it’s unclear whether the fairings were recovered intact or not.
-
-
Falcon 9 fairing prior to Starlink 12-4 launch (Credit: SpaceX)
|
| 2025-01-06 |
Starlink 6-71 |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
YES / YES |
SpainSat-NG I / ? |
|
| 2025-01-04 |
Thuraya 4-NGS |
ocean |
v2.5 ♺ |
YES / YES |
Blue Ghost M1 / HAKUTO-R M2 / ? |
|
Post Views: 923
Thanks for the effort. Suggestion for improvement: for the Recovered column, instead of using colored YES, use the following:
NET: recovered by the NET
SEA: planned and recovered from the sea
N->S: Planned by the net, missed and recovered from the sea
Update in timely fashion , Starlink 16 launched yesterday 24 hours later nothing
No point in updating it until I know the result. We still don’t know if they recovered anything during the last mission. I have to wait for photos of Ms. Tree once it returns to port.
In the last two columns, do the left and right of the slash refer to passive/active or viceversa or random? I am tracking individual fairing halves and I use your table to validate my guesses. Thanks for this great resource.
No, it’s random.
I gave up trying to track these things because it’s becoming impossible to do so accurately. SpaceX has been sharing less and less information about fairing reuse and sometimes there are no photos of recovered fairings available, so it becomes too much of a guessing game.