SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, June 23, for its first Starfall demonstration mission. The launch will be aboad Falcon 9 and will be from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A one-hour window opens at 6:43 AM ET, with a backup opportunity at the same time Wednesday. Falcon 9 booster B1078 will be on its 29th mission and is planned to touch down offshore aboard ASDS ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
What Is Starfall?
Starfall is a small reentry capsule designed to carry customer payloads to orbit and bring them safely back to Earth. FAA filings describe a disk-shaped vehicle about 0.75 meters tall, roughly 2.5 feet, with a diameter of 3.1 meters and a total weight near 2,100 kilograms.
The capsule can carry up to 1,000 kilograms of payload. That is roughly 30 times the return capacity of capsules now flown by competitors such as Varda Corporation, and the increased margin could change the economics of manufacturing goods in microgravity.
SpaceX has indicated in FAA documents that it also plans to use Starfall for rapid point-to-point cargo transport, though it offered no further detail. The capsules are designed to reenter under parachute and splash down in the Pacific Ocean.
The orbital manufacturing return market has, until now, been built almost entirely by companies flying on SpaceX rideshares. Varda Space Industries, founded in 2021 and based in El Segundo, California, has completed six W-series capsule missions to date. All were launched aboard SpaceX vehicles.
Varda’s capsules are purpose-built for pharmaceutical crystal growth in microgravity. Its most recent flight, W-6, launched aboard Transporter-16 in March 2026 and reentered over Australia in May. A Starfall capsule capable of returning far heavier loads would put SpaceX in direct competition with its own customers.
Weather
Launch Viewing: In Person
Map of View Locations For SLC-40 Launches
The best free options are available for spectators: Northern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1, For example, Space View Park, Sands Park, Rotary Riverfront Park.
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Great views are also available on 528W at the bridge pulloffs, and KARS Park will likely welcome guests for a small $5.00 fee.
Playalinda Beach will be open, but may not allow entry prior to launch. It opens at 6 AM and closes at 8 PM, but often stops guests from entering the area when the countdown reaches T minus 30 minutes. For specific up-to-date information, operating hours, and inquiries regarding Playalinda Beach in the Canaveral National Seashore, you can call the park’s main visitor line at (386) 428-3384.
The Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center will also be closed, so there is no on-site viewing available to the public.
Launch Viewing: Online
SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: Bluebird 8-10. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information.
Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.
Author: Charles Boyer
NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.
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