The FAA has released documents detailing a SpaceX project called Starfall, an uncrewed reentry vehicle designed to support in-space manufacturing and point-to-point cargo delivery.
On May 15, the FAA issued an environmental assessment and a record of decision approving two test flights of the Starfall capsule, concluding no significant environmental impacts. The agency publicized the findings on May 29.
Key Details
- The Starfall capsule is disk-shaped, 0.75 meters tall and 3.1 meters in diameter at the top. It consists of a top plate (aluminum, 1,400 kg) and a heat shield (carbon-fiber, 700 kg).
- The capsule has cold-gas attitude control thrusters but no propulsion system for deorbit.
- It will descend using a main parachute, with pilot and drogue parachutes, and the heat shield will be jettisoned before splashdown. SpaceX will recover all elements by boat.
- The capsules will launch on Falcon 9 or Starship vehicles and reenter over the Pacific Ocean, about 1,300 km off the coasts of California and Mexico.
- The capsule can carry up to 1,000 kg of payload in a volume of 2.5 by 1.5 by 0.5 meters.
Purpose
According to the FAA record of decision, the project aims to:
- Enable point-to-point delivery of critical cargo through space on rapid timelines.
- Create a self-sustaining commercial in-space manufacturing market by offering access to microgravity and vacuum, loiter on orbit, and safe return from orbit as a service at scale.
Background
SpaceX has not publicly discussed Starfall before. Bloomberg first reported on the project in July 2024, describing it as an in-space manufacturing program. The FAA documents describe Starfall as a potential "proliferated successor" to the International Space Station to support a self-sustaining manufacturing economy in space.
The environmental assessment does not specify when the test flights will occur, and only approves two test flights. However, documents indicate SpaceX plans to develop a mass-producible reentry vehicle that can precisely deliver cargo from space to various Earth locations.
Industry Context
Several other companies are developing reentry vehicles, including:
- Varda Space Industries (which has flown six W-series spacecraft on SpaceX rideshare missions)
- Inversion (whose Ray spacecraft experienced technical issues)
- Atmos Space Cargo
- Catalyx Space
- Lux Aeterna
- Reditus Space
Many of these companies rely on SpaceX for launch services.