Semiconductor manufacturing test bed launches on Falcon 9 with Starlink

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Spaceflight Now) Two semiconductor fabrication test beds hitched a sub-orbital ride on the first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral shortly after sunrise Sunday. Liftoff of the Starlink 10-50 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 6:50 a.m. EDT (1050 UTC). Space Force meteorologists predicted an 85 percent chance of favorable weather for launch. The first stage carried the first prototype Fabships for Besxar, a semiconductor manufacturing company. Besxar has booked 12 Falcon 9 flights to test and refine these Clipper-class Fabships. Two of the devices were integrated into the rocket for the Starlink 10-50 mission and will be returned to Besxar following booster recovery. The first stage transported two fabrication capsules for the startup Besxar Space Industries, based in Washington, D.C., during a voyage of eight minutes and nineteen seconds to space and back.