From Ars Technica · · 1m 50s
After seven years, a spacecraft company is releasing its Otters into the wild
Starfish Space launches its first operational Otter spacecraft to inspect dead satellites and extend the life of working ones in orbit.
In brief
Starfish Space launches its first operational Otter spacecraft to inspect dead satellites and extend the life of working ones in orbit. Starfish Space's Otter spacecraft represents a new commercial capability for servicing and managing the growing number of satellites in orbit, after seven years of development and…
Two engineers spot an orbital problem
Trevor Bennett and Austin Link, both from Blue Origin, founded Starfish Space in October 2019 to tackle a looming challenge: how to manage the explosion of satellites being launched into orbit.
The Otter spacecraft takes shape
Starfish designed Otter as a small, maneuverable spacecraft about the size of a large washing machine, weighing 350 kilograms, to extend satellite life and manage orbital debris.
Seven years of setbacks and learning
Starfish's first demo mission in 2023 failed when an external vehicle ejected the spacecraft prematurely at a dangerous spin rate, but the team recovered it and learned valuable lessons.
Recent demos show real progress
Otter Pup 2, launched in 2025, has successfully flown within 1 kilometer of a target spacecraft and is preparing for docking. A separate mission with Impulse Space proved autonomous rendezvous works.
NASA funds the first real mission
NASA is paying Starfish 15 million dollars for the SSPICY mission, where Otter will inspect multiple defunct US satellites to gather data on their condition and spin rates.
“This is the first time NASA has funded a commercial debris inspection mission”
Five more Otters in the pipeline
Starfish has five additional Otter spacecraft in production to demonstrate docking, deorbiting, and life extension capabilities for future missions beyond the NASA demonstration.
A moment seven years in the making
After founding Starfish in October 2019, surviving a pandemic, and weathering technical failures, Bennett says the first Otter launch represents a chance to prove a new capability can work in space.
“This is a moment to celebrate getting here and affording us this opportunity to go do something big”
What matters most
Starfish Space's Otter spacecraft represents a new commercial capability for servicing and managing the growing number of satellites in orbit, after seven years of development and testing.
