The company developed the new saucer-shaped reentry pod, called Starfall, under a veil of secrecy. Its purpose is to support the “transport and delivery of goods through space,” according to an environmental assessment published by the Federal Aviation Administration last month.

SpaceX launched Starfall on Tuesday morning, June 23, 2026, putting its secretive disk-shaped cargo return capsule into low Earth orbit for the first time. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6 ...

Starfall is explicitly designed for mass production (like Starlink satellites), so unit costs drop sharply with volume. It is tiny compared to a Starship