News

Starfish Space, an in-orbit servicing startup, has secured .8 million from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX technology accelerator to develop its satellite guidance software. The funding will support the development of Cephalopod, a software designed to enable satellites to dock with other spacecraft using electric propulsion. The goal is to mature the technology for government and commercial servicing missions at scale.

Starfish planned to test the software on its demonstrator satellite, called Otter Pup, which was scheduled to rendezvous with an SN3 space tug from rocket developer Launcher. However, due to an anomaly on SN3’s attitude control system, Otter Pup was deployed earlier than planned and experienced high rates of rotation. Launcher lost contact with SN3, making it uncertain if the mission could continue as originally planned.

Ari Juster, the leader of Starfish’s strategy and operations, stated that they are still in communication with Otter Pup, but there are challenges to overcome, including uncertainty around the satellite’s health. Starfish aims to perform the first-ever docking of two commercial satellites in low-Earth orbit.

In addition to Otter Pup, Starfish has plans to develop full-scale Otter spacecraft, which are larger and designed to extend the operational life of satellites in geostationary orbit once docked. In low Earth orbit, Starfish intends to use Otter to dock with defunct satellites, pull them into de-orbit trajectories, and remove other pieces of debris.

While the fate of Otter Pup is uncertain, the development of Cephalopod can still continue terrestrially. Starfish believes there are additional tests they can run to validate the technology that do not require Otter Pup to complete a full docking mission. The company remains committed to developing its technology and is actively testing its software in simulations on Earth.

In March, Starfish announced that it had raised million in a funding round led by insurance giant Munich Re’s venture capital arm.

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