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4h ago

SpaceX Successfully Launches Starfall Reentry Capsule on Demonstration Flight

The company says the mission will demonstrate controlled reentry and a planned Pacific splashdown with recovery of the vehicle components.

SpaceX
Katalyst Space’s LINK spacecraft sits inside the payload fairing of the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia ahead of its launch to boost the orbit of NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Credit: NASA/Ron Beard
Starfall will be carried into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbs on a bright exhaust plume against a clear blue sky

Overview

  • SpaceX launched the Starfall Demo on Tuesday, June 23, with the Falcon 9 first stage landing on the droneship while the disk‑shaped capsule stayed in orbit pending a planned FAA‑authorized reentry.
  • Federal filings describe Starfall as a roughly 3.1‑meter‑wide, 0.75‑meter‑tall, two‑part capsule that can carry about 1,000 kilograms of cargo and that separates a top plate from a carbon‑fiber heat shield before parachute deployment.
  • The FAA approved up to two demonstration reentries that target splashdowns about 700 nautical miles off the U.S. West Coast and require recovery teams to retrieve the capsule and heat shield at sea.
  • Starfall carries no main deorbit engine and uses compressed inert gas for attitude control, so it relies on the launch vehicle or a preplanned trajectory to bring it back through the atmosphere.
  • SpaceX has released few operational details about the flight, so public next steps are confirmation of splashdown and recovery and a second demo if tests succeed while industry watchers note the vehicle’s potential for in‑space manufacturing returns and rapid point‑to‑point cargo delivery.