SpaceX has flown its little-publicised Starfall return capsule for the second time, as one of 32 payloads on its Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, Space.com reports.
A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:04 GMT on Tuesday. Starfall, which first flew on a dedicated demonstration in June, was due to be the last payload released, almost three hours after launch. SpaceX has said the capsule is meant to give researchers and manufacturers affordable, routine access to microgravity. According to a US Federal Aviation Administration environmental assessment, the disc-shaped craft is about 3.1 metres wide and can return around 1,000kg of cargo to Earth.
Other payloads included Varda Space Industries' W-Series 7 orbital manufacturing capsule and a Planet Earth-observation satellite. The booster, on its 19th flight, landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
Source: Space.com
