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6h ago

SpaceX Targets June 23 Demo Launch for Starfall Return Capsule

A successful flight would prove a disk-shaped capsule that can bring about 1,000 kilograms back from orbit and open the door to routine commercial returns for in-space manufacturing.

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
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbs on a bright exhaust plume against a clear blue sky
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Overview

  • SpaceX has scheduled a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral for Tuesday, June 23, with a 6:43 a.m. ET window for the first Starfall demonstration and a backup window the following day.
  • FAA filings describe Starfall as a flat, disk-shaped reentry capsule about 3.1 meters across and 0.75 meters tall that can return roughly 1,000 kilograms of cargo to Earth.
  • The capsule is built in two halves — an aluminum top plate and a carbon-fiber heat shield — that separate after reentry so parachutes can slow the top plate for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific.
  • The FAA has approved two Pacific reentry windows for the demos, and SpaceX plans to mass-produce Starfall, use Falcon 9 for the demo and later fly the capsules on Starship if the tests succeed.
  • If scaled, Starfall could let SpaceX move beyond launch services to operate return logistics for pharmaceuticals and advanced materials, creating competition with specialist firms and offering potential military point-to-point cargo uses.