diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bc5c4690b6..ae4b00a0ea 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ GIT_TREE_STATE=$(shell if [[ -z "`git status --porcelain`" ]]; then echo "clean"
 DOCKER_PUSH?=false
 DOCKER_BUILD_ARGS?=
 IMAGE_NAMESPACE?=quay.io/numaproj
-VERSION?=latest
-BASE_VERSION:=latest
+VERSION?=v0.9.0-rc1
+BASE_VERSION:=v0.9.0-rc1
 
 override LDFLAGS += \
   -X ${PACKAGE}.version=${VERSION} \
diff --git a/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json b/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json
index d921cbe2f9..87e83bbe69 100644
--- a/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json
+++ b/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "swagger": "2.0",
   "info": {
     "title": "Numaflow",
-    "version": "latest"
+    "version": "v0.9.0-rc1"
   },
   "paths": {},
   "definitions": {
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml
index 350a385ce1..6d4242b1c2 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml
@@ -269,12 +269,12 @@ spec:
         - --namespaced
         env:
         - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         - name: NAMESPACE
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml
index ee66fa226e..08dddbe64f 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ resources:
 
 images:
   - name: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow
-    newTag: latest
+    newTag: v0.9.0-rc1
 
 patchesStrategicMerge:
   - |-
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ patchesStrategicMerge:
             - name: controller-manager
               env:
                 - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
 
 patches:
   - patch: |-
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml
index 1cafecef65..e4ba408259 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ spec:
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ spec:
       initContainers:
       - args:
         - server-init
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         name: server-init
         volumeMounts:
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml
index 4f5ec6feee..307fad5962 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ namespace: numaflow-system
 
 images:
   - name: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow
-    newTag: latest
+    newTag: v0.9.0-rc1
 
 patchesStrategicMerge:
   - |-
diff --git a/config/base/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/kustomization.yaml
index bb2c98168e..eadd6a2fa1 100644
--- a/config/base/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/base/kustomization.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ resources:
 
 images:
   - name: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow
-    newTag: latest
+    newTag: v0.9.0-rc1
 
 patchesStrategicMerge:
   - |-
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ patchesStrategicMerge:
             - name: controller-manager
               env:
                 - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
   - |-
     apiVersion: apps/v1
     kind: Deployment
diff --git a/config/install.yaml b/config/install.yaml
index 367d631ca2..fc4a1a3f7f 100644
--- a/config/install.yaml
+++ b/config/install.yaml
@@ -12755,12 +12755,12 @@ spec:
         - controller
         env:
         - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         - name: NAMESPACE
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -12819,7 +12819,7 @@ spec:
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -12846,7 +12846,7 @@ spec:
       initContainers:
       - args:
         - server-init
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         name: server-init
         volumeMounts:
diff --git a/config/namespace-install.yaml b/config/namespace-install.yaml
index 705b2054b7..9aa5eff84c 100644
--- a/config/namespace-install.yaml
+++ b/config/namespace-install.yaml
@@ -12664,12 +12664,12 @@ spec:
         - --namespaced
         env:
         - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         - name: NAMESPACE
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -12728,7 +12728,7 @@ spec:
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -12755,7 +12755,7 @@ spec:
       initContainers:
       - args:
         - server-init
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.9.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         name: server-init
         volumeMounts: