No, that's not why. I found dimensions and a picture of IM-1 here: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=IM-1-NOVA https://nssdc.gsfc.n

No, that's not why. I found dimensions and a picture of IM-1 here: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=IM-1-NOVA https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id... The IM-1 lander was 1.57 meters wide and 4m tall, but based on the picture I think the width doesn't include the legs. The Blue Ghost lander also launched on an F9; it's 2m high and 3.5m wide, and it landed without falling over. (dimensions from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ghost_Mission_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ghost_Mission_1) The F9 payload envelope dimensions can be found on page 79 of: https://www.spacex.com/media/falcon-users-guide-2021-09.pdf https://www.spacex.com/media/falcon-users-guide-2021-09.pdf Dimensions shown appear to be <inches> [ <millimeters> ] - the bulk of the space is a cylinder with a radius of "180.020 [ 4572.5011 ]" which I read as just over 4.5 meters in diameter; the cylindrical part is just over 6.6 meters high (and then you get into the conical section at the nose). The space inside the fairing is bigger than this but there is empty space between it and the payload to ensure they don't come into contact due to vibrations, etc., during launch. So IM-1 could well have been wider and shorter and still fit on the F9.