FAA details SpaceX Starfall Pacific reentries

The Federal Aviation Administration has published new documents laying out how SpaceX plans to test a new reentry vehicle called Starfall, including two splashdowns in the Pacific Ocean about 1,300 kilometers off the California coast. The agency’s May 15 environmental approval says SpaceX wants to re-enter two uncrewed Starfall vehicles from orbit to Earth using the Pacific as the landing site. The filings add the capsules could launch on Falcon 9 or Starship, and in some cases could also fly a direct suborbital path to the recovery zone. ### What did the FAA actually approve? The FAA said in its Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision that it would modify SpaceX’s vehicle operator license to allow two Starfall reentries in the Pacific Ocean. The documents are posted on the FAA’s NEPA site and identify the vehicle as “Starfall” under license VOL 26-135. The May 15 record of decision describes the proposal as “two Starfall landings in the Pacific Ocean.” SpaceNews reported the filings provide the clearest public picture yet of a SpaceX project that had previously been described only in broad terms. (faa.gov) ### Where would the vehicles come down? The FAA filings, as summarized by SpaceNews and other reports, place the splashdown zone in the Pacific Ocean about 1,300 kilometers off the coast of California. (faa.gov) One report said the area is off the coasts of California and Mexico. The recovery concept is a sea recovery. Reports based on the FAA documents say SpaceX teams would retrieve the vehicles by boat after splashdown. (drs.faa.gov) ### What is Starfall supposed to do? SpaceNews reported the Starfall vehicles are being developed to support in-space manufacturing projects and cargo return. The FAA-linked reporting says the system is aimed at giving customers access to microgravity and vacuum conditions in orbit, then bringing payloads back to Earth. (spacenews.com) Bloomberg first reported in July 2025 that SpaceX was developing an internal program called Starfall to carry products such as pharmaceutical components to space in small uncrewed capsules. (interestingengineering.com) That report said the capsules would remain in orbit for a period before returning to Earth for recovery. ### Why do Falcon 9 and Starship both appear in the plan? (spacenews.com) The FAA documents, as described in current coverage, say Starfall capsules could be launched either on Falcon 9 or on Starship. That matters because Starship remains under FAA mishap review after its latest test flight, while Falcon 9 is SpaceX’s established operational launcher. (bloomberg.com) SpaceNews said the option to use either rocket suggests SpaceX is preserving flexibility for early tests. The filings also contemplate either an orbital mission profile or a direct suborbital trajectory to the landing zone. ### How much do the documents reveal about the vehicle itself? Interesting Engineering, citing the FAA documents, reported the Starfall capsule is circular, about 3.1 meters in diameter and 0.75 meters high, with a mass of about 2,100 kilograms. (spacenews.com) The same report said the capsule uses cold-gas attitude-control thrusters, a heat shield that is jettisoned before splashdown, and a parachute system including pilot, drogue and main parachutes. The same report said Starfall could carry up to 1,000 kilograms of payload. SpaceNews separately described the project as focused on manufacturing and cargo return rather than crew transport. ### What happens next? The FAA’s published decision clears the environmental review step, not the full flight campaign by itself. The agency says the proposed action is to modify SpaceX’s vehicle operator license to permit the two reentries, and the documents identify that license as VOL 26-135. (interestingengineering.com) SpaceX has not publicly laid out a flight date in the FAA material now posted. The next concrete marker is the license modification and any mission-specific notices tied to the two approved Pacific reentries. (interestingengineering.com) (faa.gov)