SpaceX launches Starfall mission
June 23, 2026

By Chris Forrester



SpaceX has launched its first Starfall mission. The test flight will carry a new cargo return vehicle. The return vehicle is designed to bring materials back to Earth from orbit.

Unlike SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon, which primarily returns cargo from the ISS, Starfall is being developed as a dedicated cargo return system that could provide a faster and potentially lower-cost way to bring materials back from space.


The one-hour launch window opens at 6:43 AM ET from Florida with a backup opportunity available at the same time on June 24th.

The new project comes on top of news that SpaceX’s Falcon rocket programme has now delivered more mass to orbit in recent years than the rest of the world combined and more individual satellites than all of humanity launched in the previous 60+ years of spaceflight

The Merlin engine is the most successful rocket engine of all time; reliable, powerful, refined over hundreds of flights and thousands of engine-uses, and still going strong.