SpaceX tests Starfall cargo return capsule with launch from Cape Canaveral

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX launched its Starfall Demo mission Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The mission is a test of a new spacecraft designed to return cargo from low-Earth orbit.

Big picture view:

Unlike SpaceX missions focused on launching satellites or astronauts, the Starfall mission will test a compact, disk-shaped capsule designed to bring cargo back to Earth. 

According to a Federal Aviation Administration document, the capsule is capable of returning up to 2,200 pounds of material from orbit.

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The Falcon 9 first-stage booster assigned to the mission made its 29th flight. It previously supported NASA’s Crew-6 mission, national security launches and multiple Starlink flights.

What they're saying:

Zac Aubert, founder of The Launch Pad Network, described Starfall as a potential breakthrough for the growing space manufacturing industry.

"There’s a lot of things we can do in low Earth orbit that we can’t do, like 3D printing and hopefully replacement organs," Aubert said. "But if you do that, you want to bring them back more than twice a year on a Dragon. So Starfall is going to hopefully open up that industry."

Aubert said the technology could eventually enable more frequent deliveries of critical cargo from orbit.

"We’ve never had the ability to bring something back from space every single day, and Starfall is something that could eventually get us there," he said.

Timeline:

The mission lifted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket during a one-hour launch window that opened 6:43 a.m. EDT. 

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Following stage separation, the booster landed on SpaceX’s drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.

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