23 June 2026 year Fr. 10:53 (UTC) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, with the help of the "Falcon" launch vehicle 9 Block 5" launched the "Project Starfall Demonstration Mission".
Mission profile and payload details will be determined later. A demonstration mission for the SpaceX Starfall project, the purpose of which is the mass production of capsules for return to Earth, intended for autonomous transportation of valuable experimental customer data and other useful cargo safely back from space to Earth, in particular for on-orbit production. Starfall is a cylindrical capsule with a height of approx 0,75 meters, diameter 3,1 meters, weight approx 2100 kilograms, able to transport 1000 kilograms of payload.
Demonstration mission to check:
– putting the device into low Earth orbit;
– operation of guidance and control systems;
– thermal protection during entry into the atmosphere;
– the technology of safe return of goods from space;
– the prospect of using Starfall for commercial orbital production.
Although SpaceX hardly discloses the details of the mission, experts believe, that Starfall is market oriented:
– production of pharmaceuticals in microgravity;
– manufacturing of optical materials and semiconductors;
– the return to Earth of the results of scientific experiments;
– transportation of commercial cargo from future orbital stations.
This is the first case, when SpaceX launches a stand-alone demonstrator of its new cargo return system, which in the future can complement or partially replace the capabilities of Dragon cargo ships for commercial customers. According to available information, the device is also planned to be launched on ships of the Starship system in the future.
According to the CCS