Exolaunch has signed a contract with SpaceX for a Starfall mission targeted to launch aboard a Starship rocket in 2029, the company announced in Paris on 21 September, marking what it calls a major expansion into microgravity research, in-space manufacturing and return-to-Earth transportation. Exolaunch will act as payload integrator for the mission, offering biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, materials developers, governments, space agencies, research institutions and private organisations an end-to-end route to fly experiments and payloads aboard Starfall, operate them in orbit and return them safely to Earth. “Today, Exolaunch is opening an entirely new chapter in its history. We are proud to secure our first Starfall mission with SpaceX,” said Jeanne Allarie, Exolaunch’s Chief Marketing Officer. “For years, we have helped satellite operators around the world reach orbit reliably and at scale. Through this new program, we are extending that trusted model to microgravity research, in-space manufacturing, and return-to-Earth services. Exolaunch looks forward to bringing its integration experience, global customer network and record of execution to this next generation of missions.”

WHAT IS STARFALL?

Starfall is SpaceX’s uncrewed, disc-shaped cargo capsule, designed to carry payloads into low Earth orbit, support research or manufacturing in space, and return material through the atmosphere for recovery; it can fly aboard either a Falcon 9 or a Starship rocket, and SpaceX flew an inaugural demonstration mission on Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in June 2026, recovering the capsule from the Pacific Ocean days later. Exolaunch’s 2029 booking follows earlier disclosed Starfall contracts from Space Cargo Unlimited and Redwire’s SpaceMD unit. “SpaceX’s Starfall spacecraft presents an opportunity to expand access to microgravity,” said Emilie Marley Siemssen, Exolaunch’s Vice President of Business Development. “The ability to launch, operate and return payloads through a single integrated service is transformative.”

The mission builds on Exolaunch’s existing relationship with SpaceX, through which it has deployed hundreds of customer satellites across dozens of Falcon missions since 2020. Exolaunch, headquartered in Berlin with offices in the United States, France and Japan, says it has launched 844 satellites across 49 missions to date; the Starfall contract follows the company’s recently announced Exo-1 and Exo-2 missions on Falcon 9, and comes as EQT Private Equity’s acquisition of Exolaunch, announced without a disclosed deal value, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Note: The description of Starfall’s specifications and prior demonstration flight, and the acquisition timeline, are drawn from SpaceX’s and EQT’s own materials, since Exolaunch’s release does not itself describe the spacecraft or the acquisition timetable.