Created 23-Jun-26
Modified 23-Jun-26
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from spaceflightnow.com:
As the sun rose over Florida’s Space Coast on Tuesday, so too did SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying onboard a demonstration of its new uncrewed reentry capsule named ‘Starfall’.
The company had been tight-lipped about the payload and its mission profile, cutting off its public-facing, post-liftoff timeline after the booster landing event. SpaceX chose not to share views of its upper stage or the Starfall payload itself during its broadcast.
SpaceX also has not disclosed how many spacecraft are onboard this mission. An environmental assessment (EA) published by the Federal Aviation Administration said in May that the company wanted to “perform two Starfall reentries to demonstrate capabilities for future transport and delivery of goods through space,” but it’s not clear if this mission will include more than one Starfall capsule.
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 6:53 a.m. EDT (1053 UTC).
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 95 percent chance for favorable weather on Tuesday. Meteorologists said there was a small chance for interference from cumulus clouds.
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster B1078.
This was its 29th flight after launching previous missions that included NASA’s Crew-6, USSF-124, and SES’ O3b mPOWER-B.
Nearly nine minutes after liftoff, B1078 landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas positioned out in the Atlantic Ocean.
This was the 157th landing on this vessel and the 628th booster landing for SpaceX to date.
As the sun rose over Florida’s Space Coast on Tuesday, so too did SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying onboard a demonstration of its new uncrewed reentry capsule named ‘Starfall’.
The company had been tight-lipped about the payload and its mission profile, cutting off its public-facing, post-liftoff timeline after the booster landing event. SpaceX chose not to share views of its upper stage or the Starfall payload itself during its broadcast.
SpaceX also has not disclosed how many spacecraft are onboard this mission. An environmental assessment (EA) published by the Federal Aviation Administration said in May that the company wanted to “perform two Starfall reentries to demonstrate capabilities for future transport and delivery of goods through space,” but it’s not clear if this mission will include more than one Starfall capsule.
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 6:53 a.m. EDT (1053 UTC).
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 95 percent chance for favorable weather on Tuesday. Meteorologists said there was a small chance for interference from cumulus clouds.
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster B1078.
This was its 29th flight after launching previous missions that included NASA’s Crew-6, USSF-124, and SES’ O3b mPOWER-B.
Nearly nine minutes after liftoff, B1078 landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas positioned out in the Atlantic Ocean.
This was the 157th landing on this vessel and the 628th booster landing for SpaceX to date.
© Dennis Huff
