SpaceX launches Starfall reentry capsule, 31 customer payloads on Bandwagon-5 rideshare missionOctober 18, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith
(...) Nearly nine minutes after liftoff, B1085 will target a landing on the droneship, A Shortall of Gravitas. If successful, this will be the 167th landing on this vessel and the 672nd Falcon booster landing to date.
Beyond
SpaceX’s Starfall capsule,
20 of the remaining 31 payloads to be deployed were manifested by multinational mission management company, Exolaunch. Those include
four radio-frequency monitoring satellites from Virginia-based, HawkEye 360;
four communications satellites for Finnish micro satellite company, Iceye; and
six navigation satellites from California-based, Xona Space Systems. (...)
SpaceX first debuted its reentry capsule called Starfall back in June. (...)
The Federal Aviation Administration noted in an environmental assessment of Starfall that the vehicle is about 0.75 meters (2.5 feet) tall, 3.1 meters (10.2 feet) in diameter, and has a mass of about 2,100 kilograms (4,600 pounds). The FAA said a single Starfall capsule has the ability to support up to 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of payload mass.
SpaceX didn’t state what, if any, payloads were onboard this Starfall mission. (...)
SpaceX’s Starfall isn’t the only reentry vehicle onboard the Bandwagon-5 mission. Varda Space Industries, which focuses on pharmaceutical research missions, is launching its
W-Series 7 spacecraft, which is about three times smaller than Starfall.
Despite the name, W-7 will be Varda’s ninth reentry capsule launched to date. W-8 and W-9 were launched earlier this month on the Transporter-18 mission. W-7 features the cancer drug called Protac and will study whether microgravity can improve its solubility. (...)
Also onboard Bandwagon-5 is the
Starburst-1 demo mission from Portal Space Systems Inc. The 260 kg spacecraft is designed to perform orbital maneuvers and support a customer payload of up to 50 kg.
This first demonstration of the Starburst spacecraft is “fully funded by Portal to prove capability ahead of customer missions,” the company said on its website. Customer flights are advertised as starting in 2027.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/10/18/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-starfall-reentry-capsule-31-customer-payloads-on-bandwagon-5-rideshare-mission/Two NASA Commercial Satellite Communication Demonstrations LaunchMolly Kearns October 20, 2026 11:40 AM
(...) After Tuesday’s launch, two of NASA’s partners, Viasat and SES Space and Defense, will prepare to test high- and low-rate communications capabilities for the agency. (...)
Viasat will test high- and low-rate relay services designed to keep spacecraft connected and data flowing at any point in flight using
Maxwell, a demonstration spacecraft built by Rocket Lab. Throughout the demonstration, Viasat will use intelligent autonomous technology to route data among the Maxwell spacecraft, their satellites in geosynchronous orbit, and their global network of ground stations. (...)
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/smallsatellites/2026/10/20/two-nasa-commercial-satellite-communication-demonstrations-launch/https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-starfall-return-capsule-launch-bandwagon-5-rideshare-missionPete Carstens @CarstensPete 2:35 PM · Oct 20, 2026
A few screenshots from my tracking video of SpaceX Bandwagon 5 seen live on @SpaceflightNow #SpaceX
https://x.com/CarstensPete/status/2112522985424724347
Wątek: Falcon-9R B1085.19 | Bandwagon-5 | 20.10.2026 (Przeczytany 360 razy)