Space Exploration Technologies Corp. trading as SpaceX, is a private american aerospace manafacturer headquartered California.
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manafactured by Space X for the reliable and safe transport of Satellites and the Dragon Spacecraft into Orbit.
Dragon carries cargo in the spacecraft's pressurized cap and unpressurized trunk, which can also accomodate secondary payloads. In future, Dragon will carry astronauts in the pressurized capsule as well.
The payload fairing is for the delivery of the satellites to the destinations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) and beyond.
Falcon 9's first stage incorporates nine Merlin engines and aluminum-lithium alloy tanks containing liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellant.
Falcon 9 delivers payloads to space aboard the Dragon spacecraft or inside a composite fairing.
The second stage powered by a single Merlin vaccumm engine delivers Falcon 9's payload to the desired orbit. For maximum reliablity the second stage has redundant igniter systems.
With its nine first-stage Merlin engines clustered together, Falcon 9 can sustain upto two engines shutdown during flight and successfully complete its mission. Falcon 9 is the only launch vehicle in its class with this key reliablity feature.