SpaceX is preparing the first flight of Starfall, a reentry vehicle the company could use to manufacture pharmaceuticals and other products in space. The Starfall Demo mission is scheduled for launch on Tuesday, June 23, on board a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch window for the mission opens at 6:43 a.m. ET, with a backup window at the same time on Wednesday, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The launch will be broadcast live on SpaceX’s website, as well as the company’s account on X. The live stream will begin around 10 minutes before liftoff. We’ve also included some third-party streams below. Testing, testing Prior to sharing launch details for Starfall’s debut mission, SpaceX had provided no other information about its newly developed reentry capsules. Details about Starfall became public through regulatory filings.
Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved Starfall’s upcoming test flights, revealing some information on SpaceX’s ongoing project. According to the FAA documents, the Starfall capsules are shaped like a disk measuring 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) wide and 2.5 feet (0.75 meters) tall.
The capsules are designed to reenter through Earth’s atmosphere and perform a splashdown using a single main parachute, along with pilot and drogue parachutes. Starfall is made of an aluminum top plate and a carbon-fiber heat shield to protect the payload during reentry. The FAA has so far approved two reentries of the Starfall capsules into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. It’s not clear when the capsule will reenter following this week’s launch.
