Starfall

[Yazata]

This is another SpaceX thing. Though I should say that several other companies are working on similar ideas. One is Varda Space Industries.

Starfall is a cheap capsule designed to carry about one metric ton of cargo and survive atmospheric reentry. It's a disk about 10 feet in diameter and about 2 1/2 feet in thickness. It will have cold-gas thrusters to keep it oriented properly. Other than that, it's basically just an aluminum cargo container with a heat shield. Hopefully it will be reusable.

One of its use-cases is for the Space Force to launch military cargo that's needed immediately at a battle-front somewhere on suborbital point to point trajectories. They should be able to reach any point on Earth in less than an hour that way. It will descend with parachutes and should be accurate enough to land at precise points. The military has already explored using Starship for point-to-point cargo delivery, but decided that it would be impractical to land giant spaceships in battle zones and then try to refuel them somehow with lox and liquid methane so as to fly them out of the battle zone for reuse. The Starfall capsules are far less expensive than a Starship, small enough to transport back home by air and don't contain any especially advanced technology that we wouldn't want to fall into enemy hands.

Another use-case is to return products of space manufacturing from orbit back to the surface. One thing that microgravity enables is growing almost perfect crystals, which might have many applications including pharmaceuticals, lasers, semiconductors, nanomaterials, thin films, advanced alloys, exotic glass, even quantum materials. There's also interest in the possibility of growing bio-printed organs in microgravity.

Starfall is more than just a 'vaporware' artists concept proposal. On June 23, 2026, SpaceX flew a prototype Starfall capsule atop a Falcon 9 and recovered it off the coast of California.

[Image: HJq40ySXIAcEad2?format=jpg&name=small]

[Syne]

Very much like a supply drop from space, like in sci-fi combat video games.

[stryder]

Very much like a supply drop from space, like in sci-fi combat video games.

You mean in relationship to everybody in the area fighting over the resource drop to get an upper hand in the field of valour. I wouldn't think it would make sense to drop it in the middle of a DMZ for that reasoning. It needs to be within lines of control or you lose your edge.

[Syne]

Very much like a supply drop from space, like in sci-fi combat video games.

You mean in relationship to everybody in the area fighting over the resource drop to get an upper hand in the field of valour.  I wouldn't think it would make sense to drop it in the middle of a DMZ for that reasoning.  It needs to be within lines of control or you lose your edge.

No, like a supply drop you call in to supply your own troops, usually with a target beacon, in an area you control.