Falcon 9· guided tour

Interstage

the collar

This black collar joins the two stages together. It is the piece that lets go when the booster's job is done — and it holds the four grid fins folded flat against the rocket until they are needed.

Height

3.2 m

Material

Carbon composite

Separation

T+2:30

How it works

There are no explosive bolts here. Falcon 9 uses pneumatic pushers — big air-powered arms that gently shove the two stages apart. Gentle is good: an explosion could damage the engine that is about to light.

For the grown-up

Carbon-fibre composite structure with an aluminium honeycomb core. Houses the pneumatic stage-separation system and the stowed grid-fin actuators. Separation occurs four seconds after MECO.

Falcon 9 Block 5 mission timeline (Starlink Group 17-38)