SpaceX launches Bandwagon-5 rideshare with 32 payloads, including Starfall capsule

Launch and landing

SpaceX launched its Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:04 a.m. EDT (1104 UTC) on Tuesday, Oct. 20, Space.com and BASENOR reported. Spaceflight Now identified the pad as Space Launch Complex 40.^[4][5][1]

Space.com reported that the first-stage booster touched down on a droneship in the Atlantic about nine minutes after liftoff, and BASENOR also reported a successful landing. Spaceflight Now identified the booster as B1085 on its 19th flight. No anomaly was reported in the pages reviewed.^[4][5][1]

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The payloads

The mission carried 32 payloads, according to Space.com, WFTV and BASENOR. Spaceflight Now counted 31 customer payloads plus SpaceX's own reentry capsule, Starfall. Space.com reported that deployments began about 57 minutes after launch and ran over roughly two hours, with Starfall released last at about two hours and 48 minutes after liftoff.^[4][2][5][1]

Starfall flew for the second time, after its debut on June 23, Space.com reported. The capsule is about 0.75 meters tall and 3.1 meters wide, with a mass near 2,100 kilograms and the ability to return up to 1,000 kilograms, based on an FAA environmental assessment quoted by Space.com and Spaceflight Now. Spaceflight Now noted that SpaceX did not say what payloads, if any, were aboard this Starfall.^[4][1]

Teslarati reported that SpaceX posted that the payload deployment sequence was complete. It also reported that the same flight carried Varda Space Industries' W-Series 7 capsule, the company's ninth reentry capsule, and that SpaceX has not said where or how Starfall will come down.^[6]

Monday's scrub

SpaceX called off its Monday, Oct. 19 attempt because of poor weather in the booster recovery area, Spaceflight Now reported, and Rolling Out said the delay was not a technical failure. Tuesday's attempt used a window opening at 6:30 a.m. EDT with a 7:04 a.m. target, according to Spaceflight Now and WFTV.^[1][3][2]

What is not yet known

None of the post-launch pages reviewed reports whether Starfall completed its reentry or was recovered, so that outcome is not confirmed. Landing counts for the droneship and the Falcon fleet appeared only as pre-launch projections and are not repeated here. This report will be updated when SpaceX or launch-coverage outlets confirm the capsule's result.^[4][1]