With Starfall, SpaceX eyes an edge in global cargo delivery from orbit

The FAA’s environmental review approved SpaceX’s proposal for two starfall re-entry demonstrations. It did not specify whether these demos would be on one or two missions. SpaceX intends to recover the vehicle “to the maximum practical extent,” including the parachute and heat shield, the FAA said.

The Starfall vehicle is cylindrical in shape, measuring 10.2 feet (3.1 m) in diameter and 2.5 feet (0.75 m) in height. Starfall weighs approximately 4,600 pounds (2.1 metric tons) and has a capacity for approximately 2,200 pounds (1 metric tons) of payload, for a total weight of 6,800 pounds (3.1 metric tons). Designed specifically for cargo, Starfall is smaller than SpaceX’s human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is used to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The first Starfall demo mission will spend a few hours in low-Earth orbit, but the vehicle could also fly on shorter suborbital trajectories after launching on a Falcon 9 or much larger Starship rocket. This version of Starfall is not able to orbit on its own, instead relying on its launch vehicle to return it to the atmosphere. After separating from its rocket carrier, the disc-shaped vehicle uses compressed nitrogen gas to point its heat shield in the right direction for re-entry.

So who can use something like Starfall? The US military is an obvious answer. The Pentagon is already working with SpaceX on a concept called rocket cargo, or point-to-point delivery, that would use Starship to deliver massive amounts of equipment and supplies to remote locations in less than an hour. The Starship is a massive vehicle, approximately 20 stories tall and 30 feet wide, which must land at prepared locations. Starfall may prove to be a more versatile option for lighter deliveries.

The Army has also signed agreements with Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and Anduril to study and develop technologies for global cargo delivery from space. Despite Starship, which is still undergoing experimental flight tests, SpaceX may have an early advantage with the Starfall delivery vehicle.