SpaceX sunrise launch sends up demo 'Starfall' spacecraft

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Jun 23, 2026

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SpaceX sent to space a test version of a spacecraft called Starfall during a sunrise launch on the Space Coast on Tuesday.’

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:43 a.m. carrying the disc-shaped Starfall vehicle, developed by SpaceX as a means to provide an affordable microgravity platform to the commercial market.

The system is also touted by SpaceX as a way to perform in-space manufacturing.

Starfall is designed to be able to orbit and make safe splashdown returns. The test flight sent this version on a suborbital trajectory with a landing targeted for the Pacific Ocean.

The first-stage booster for this mission flew for the 29th time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

This marked the 42nd launch on the Space Coast in 2026, with all but six coming from SpaceX.

United Launch Alliance has flown four of the rest, and has its next mission, an Atlas V rocket carrying Amazon Leo satellites, looking to fly on July 3.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn flew once, but plans for more launches this year are on hold until the company can repair its launch pad in Cape Canaveral, which was damaged during a massive rocket explosion during a static hot fire test.

The other launch this year was NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that sent the Orion spacecraft and its crew on the lunar fly-by Artemis II mission. SLS won’t fly again until at least mid 2027 on Artemis III.

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