Lab in orbit: SpaceX to fly its Starfall return capsule with 31 other payloads
A Falcon 9 is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral on Monday at 6:30 a.m. EDT, carrying SpaceX's own Starfall capsule, designed to bring microgravity research back to Earth.
Archive image · Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
SpaceX is preparing its Bandwagon-5 mission: a Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off on Monday, Oct. 19, during a one-hour window opening at 6:30 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. A total of 32 payloads are on board. Tuesday is the backup date; the U.S. Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron forecast gives a 55% chance of acceptable conditions, according to Spaceflight Now.
The main passenger is Starfall, an uncrewed SpaceX reentry capsule intended to serve as a microgravity lab for researchers and companies. According to a Federal Aviation Administration environmental assessment, it measures about 3.1 meters across, weighs roughly 2,100 kilograms and can carry up to 1,000 kilograms of payload. It debuted in June 2026. SpaceX has not said what, if anything, is aboard this time.
Also set to fly are Varda Space Industries' W-7 capsule, which will test the solubility of a cancer drug in microgravity, and satellites from HawkEye 360, Iceye and Xona Space Systems, among others. The first stage, B1085, will be making its 19th flight and is set to land on a drone ship about nine minutes after liftoff.