SpaceX launched Starfall aboard its Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission on October 20, 2026, marking the capsule’s second reported flight. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 7:04 a.m. EDT (11:04 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying 32 payloads, including Starfall and 31 others.
Bandwagon-5’s payload schedule
Payload deployments began about 57 minutes after liftoff and took roughly two hours. Starfall was scheduled to separate last, 2 hours and 48 minutes after launch. Payload separation is the point when a spacecraft is released from the rocket’s upper stage.
Starfall’s intended role
SpaceX says Starfall is intended to provide routine access to microgravity for scientific research and in-space manufacturing. Space.com reported, citing an FAA environmental assessment, that the disk-shaped capsule is about 3.1 meters wide and 0.75 meters tall, has a reported mass of about 2,100 kilograms, and can carry up to 1,000 kilograms of return payload.
