{"id":66929,"date":"2026-10-20T11:16:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/?guid=23b934227cde9beeeaff34d2e21c02d7"},"modified":"2026-10-20T21:40:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T21:40:27","slug":"spacex-launches-its-starfall-return-capsule-for-2nd-time-ever-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/10\/20\/spacex-launches-its-starfall-return-capsule-for-2nd-time-ever-video\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches its &#8216;Starfall&#8217; return capsule for 2nd time ever (video)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n                            \n                            <article>\n                                <iframe src=\"https:\/\/content.jwplatform.com\/players\/R0p3l55E.html\" id=\"R0p3l55E\" title=\"SpaceX launches 'Starfall' return capsule and 31 more payloads, nails landing\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1072\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"auto\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><p>SpaceX just launched its mysterious \"Starfall\" return capsule for the second time ever.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/what-is-starfall-a-look-at-spacexs-mysterious-new-return-capsule\"><u>Starfall<\/u><\/a> was one of 32 payloads on the company's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, which launched atop a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/18962-spacex-falcon-9.html\"><u>Falcon 9<\/u><\/a> rocket at 7:04 a.m. EDT (1104 GMT) today (Oct. 20) from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/33926-cape-canaveral.html\"><u>Cape Canaveral Space Force Station<\/u><\/a> in Florida.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/18853-spacex.html\"><u>SpaceX<\/u><\/a> has been relatively quiet about Starfall, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/spacex-launching-its-1st-starfall-reentry-capsule-early-on-june-23-watch-it-live\"><u>debuted this past June<\/u><\/a> on a Falcon 9 launch from the Cape.<\/p><figure class=\"van-image-figure  inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:2560px;\"><p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img id=\"XgXBHVrHtBpdJcEWZs2A7b\" name=\"HU19RN3XsAAZapQ\" alt=\"photo of a stack of satellites being processed for launch inside a large white clean room\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/XgXBHVrHtBpdJcEWZs2A7b-1920-80.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"inline\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">The payloads of SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, seen in a prelaunch photo. The company's Starfall capsule sits at the very top of the stack. <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: SpaceX)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>That June 23 flight was a dedicated demonstration mission for Starfall, designed to show that the capsule can fly in a controlled fashion and survive the harrowing downward trip through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/17683-earth-atmosphere.html\"><u>Earth's atmosphere<\/u><\/a>. <\/p><p>And those will be Starfall's main jobs. The vehicle \"will enable affordable, routine access to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/23017-weightlessness.html\"><u>microgravity<\/u><\/a> environment for scientific research and in-space manufacturing,\" SpaceX in a June 23 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpaceX\/status\/2069370979084603672\" ><u>X post<\/u><\/a>, one of the few public statements the company has made about Starfall.<\/p><p>Indeed, most of the details that we have about the capsule come from an <a href=\"https:\/\/drs.faa.gov\/browse\/excelExternalWindow\/DRSDOCID179523766920260515185428.0001?modalOpened=true\" ><u>environmental assessment<\/u><\/a> that was published by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in May. <\/p><p>According to that document, the disk-shaped Starfall is roughly 2.5 feet (0.75 meters) tall and 10.2 feet (3.1 m) wide. It weighs about 4,600 pounds (2,100 kilograms) and can bring 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg) of payload back down to Earth.<\/p><figure class=\"van-image-figure  inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:1531px;\"><p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.24%;\"><img id=\"xxodMemiBQsEELGsWETNHi\" name=\"starfall-launch-demo-1.jpg\" alt=\"a flat space capsule reenters Earth's atmosphere\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/xxodMemiBQsEELGsWETNHi-1920-80.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"1531\" height=\"861\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"inline\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">Artist's illustration of a SpaceX Starfall capsule reentering Earth's atmosphere. <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: SpaceX)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Starfall wasn't the only return capsule that went up on Bandwagon-5. Among the other 31 payloads on the flight was W-Series 7, the latest orbital \"mini-factory\" built and operated by the California company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/thats-a-hat-trick-varda-successfully-returns-3rd-space-capsule-from-orbit\"><u>Varda Space Industries<\/u><\/a>. <\/p><p>The W-Series capsules are designed to both host the production of valuable goods such as pharmaceuticals and bring them safely down to Earth, Varda has said.<\/p><p>The other payloads on Bandwagon-5 are a mix of \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/34324-cubesats.html\"><u>cubesats<\/u><\/a> and microsats,\" according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacex.com\/launches\/bandwagon5\" ><u>SpaceX's mission description<\/u><\/a>. Among the latter is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/satellites\/earth-observing-company-planet-signs-usd230-million-deal-for-fleet-of-new-pelican-satellites\"><u>Pelican-12<\/u><\/a>, a sharp-eyed Earth-observation satellite built by the San Francisco company Planet.<\/p><div class=\"see-more see-more--clipped\"><figure><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet hawk-ignore\" data-lang=\"en\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2112543527481876848\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Payload deployment sequence is complete<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2112543527481876848\">October 20, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure><div class=\"see-more__filter\"><\/div><\/div><p>The 32 payloads were deployed over a two-hour span beginning about 57 minutes after launch. Starfall will be the last to separate, releasing from the Falcon 9's upper stage two hours and 48 minutes post-liftoff.<\/p><p>The Falcon 9's first stage, meanwhile, came back to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/54-earth-history-composition-and-atmosphere.html\"><u>Earth<\/u><\/a> as planned on Bandwagon-5. It touched down about nine minutes after launch, coming down in the Atlantic Ocean atop the SpaceX drone ship \"A Shortfall of Gravitas.\" It was the 19th mission for this particular booster, according to the company. <\/p><figure class=\"van-image-figure  inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:879px;\"><p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.20%;\"><img id=\"h4jvPVe2vfLu4S5q7ZU4aV\" name=\"booster-landing-b1085\" alt=\"A sooty booster stands on 4 legs on a barge at sea.\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/h4jvPVe2vfLu4S5q7ZU4aV-1920-80.png\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"879\" height=\"494\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"inline\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: SpaceX)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Bandwagon is one of two SpaceX rideshare programs. The other, known as Transporter, has been busier, flying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/satellites\/spacex-google-project-suncatcher-ai-satellite-transporter-18-mission\"><u>18 missions to date<\/u><\/a>.<\/p><p>The first Transporter mission, which lifted off in January 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/spacex-launches-143-satellites-transporter-1-rocket-landing\"><u>delivered 143 payloads to Earth orbit<\/u><\/a>, a single-launch record that still stands.<\/p>\n                                                            <\/article>\n                            \n                        ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX launched its Starfall return capsule for the second time ever this morning (Oct. 20), sending it up on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":587,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3556,1263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-launches-spacecraft","category-space-exploration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66929"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66972,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66929\/revisions\/66972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}