By KiddieDaily Editors · 2026-06-29 · 3 min read · 1 source

With Starfall, SpaceX eyes an edge in global cargo delivery from orbit

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The company developed the new saucer-shaped reentry pod, called Starfall, under a veil of secrecy.

Its purpose is to support the “transport and delivery of goods through space,” according to an environmental assessment published by the Federal Aviation Administration last month. The first demonstration of the Starfall vehicle began at 6:53 am EDT (10:53 UTC) with liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. At least one Starfall reentry pod rode to orbit on the Falcon 9, perhaps alongside another undisclosed payload.

After circling the planet two times, the Falcon 9’s upper stage was expected to release Starfall for atmospheric reentry, targeting a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean around 800 miles west of California. That is according to airspace and maritime warning notices telling pilots and sailors to steer clear of the Starfall splashdown zone. SpaceX’s official webpage for the mission includes a timeline of key events during the launch, but it lacks additional information about the payload or the exact sequence of events for the Falcon 9’s upper stage.

“Today’s mission includes a demo of a new vehicle that will enable affordable, routine access to the microgravity environment for scientific research and in-space manufacturing,” SpaceX posted on X. “After demonstrating controlled flight, the spacecraft will splash down in the Pacific Ocean.” Most of what we know about Starfall comes from the FAA’s environmental assessment. In that document, the FAA writes that Starfall will “enable point-to-point delivery of critical cargo through space on rapid timelines” and provide access to space for commercial in-space manufacturing, a nascent market that, so far, is largely geared toward pharmaceuticals.

Starfall could bring those materials back to Earth for commercial use. A private company named Varda Space Industries is already working in this area. The FAA’s environmental review approved SpaceX’s proposal for two Starfall reentry demonstrations.

It did not specify if these demos would happen on one or two missions. SpaceX intends to recover the vehicle, including parachutes and heat shields, “to the maximum extent practicable,” the FAA said. The Starfall vehicle is cylindrical in shape, with a diameter of 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) and a height of 2.5 feet (0.75 meters).

Starfall weighs approximately 4,600 pounds (2.1 metric tons) with a capacity for about 2,200 pounds (1 metric ton) of payload, for a total weight of 6,800 pounds (3.1 metric tons). Designed exclusively for cargo, Starfall is smaller than SpaceX’s human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft, which ferries astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The first Starfall Demo mission will spend a few hours in low-Earth orbit, but the vehicle could also fly on shorter suborbital trajectories after launching on either Falcon 9 or the much larger Starship rocket.

This version of Starfall is not capable of de-orbiting itself but instead relies upon its launch vehicle to guide it back into the atmosphere. After separating from its rocket carrier, the disc-shaped vehicle uses compressed nitrogen gas to orient its heat shield for reentry.

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