Payload Fairing – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

September 24, 2026

Breaking News

[ September 23, 2026 ] SpaceX stack Starship and Super Heavy for first orbital flight Mission Reports
[ September 21, 2026 ] SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster arrives at pad ahead of first orbital Starship launch Mission Reports
[ September 19, 2026 ] Russian Progress cargo ship arrives at International Space Station News
[ September 19, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Falcon 9
[ September 15, 2026 ] SpaceX launches national security payload for U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Falcon 9

Newly-released videos show SpaceX payload fairing coming back to Earth

July 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

New videos released Wednesday by SpaceX show the payload fairing from the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket plunging back into the atmosphere after launch June 25, trailing a wake of haunting blue super-heated plasma before unfurling a parafoil and landing in the net of an offshore recovery ship.

SpaceX retrieves Falcon Heavy fairings from sea for reuse on future launch

April 12, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said Thursday that the company’s recovery fleet in the Atlantic Ocean recovered the two halves of the Falcon Heavy’s payload shroud after the heavy-lifter’s second launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Musk said the company plans to reuse the fairing for the first time later this year.