A Falcon 9 lifts off June 23 from Cape Canaveral on the Starfall Demo mission. Credit: SpaceX
WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched the first test flight of its Starfall reentry capsule June 23, but the mission remained as secretive as the program itself.
A Falcon 9 lifted off at 6:53 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on what SpaceX called its Starfall Demo mission.
The launch was the first time SpaceX publicly discussed Starfall, an effort to develop vehicles for in-space manufacturing and point-to-point cargo delivery. Most of the information about the program came from other sources, including a Federal Aviation Administration environmental assessment published last month.
“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,” the company said on social media. “After demonstrating controlled flight, the spacecraft will splash down in the Pacific Ocean.”
