Introducing SSPICY: We’re teaming up with @NASA to lead the agency’s first-ever commercial space debris inspection mission. Beginning in 2027, our SSPICY Otter will conduct close rendezvous and proximity operations with multiple NASA satellites, paving the way for future satellite inspection and disposal missions across low-Earth orbit.

When we started our fifth anniversary celebration, we promised to reveal the fourth technology we’ve developed to enable Otter missions. Today, we’re unveiling Manta! Manta is an articulating boom that Otter uses for precision thrusting while docked with a client satellite. Manta enables Otter to provide life extension and disposal services to satellites of all shapes and sizes. Check out a scaled-down prototype of Manta in action on the test stand earlier this year:

As we continue our fifth-anniversary celebration, we're excited to spotlight Nautilus - our capture mechanism that allows Otter to dock with a wide variety of client satellites. On our Otter Pup mission last year, we launched a prototype version of Nautilus which uses static electricity to adhere to flat, featureless surfaces on a client satellite. Earlier this year, Otter Pup captured this shot of Nautilus deployed in orbit:

Announcing $29M in new funding led by @ShieldCapVC! This funding will support the development of our first Otter servicing vehicles, which will perform missions for Intelsat, the U.S. Space Force, and NASA. Full press release here:

Starfish Space is proud to have been selected by @NatReconOfc to conduct a mission concept study. This collaboration offers a valuable opportunity to assess how Otter can enhance our national space-based intelligence infrastructure.

Continuing Starfish’s fifth anniversary celebration, today we’re showcasing CEPHALOPOD, our autonomous guidance and control software. CEPHALOPOD leverages data from CETACEAN and other sources to plan and execute trajectories for Otter, enabling precise rendezvous and docking with client satellites. CEPHALOPOD is a modular piece of software, allowing it to integrate with a variety of satellite architectures while consistently ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable operations in orbit.

We’re celebrating five years of Starfish with a showcase of the technologies we’ve built to enable our Otter satellite servicing missions. Today, we’re highlighting CETACEAN, our relative navigation software. CETACEAN processes on-orbit imagery data to determine the positioning of a client satellite as Otter approaches it for rendezvous and docking. CETACEAN runs in real-time onboard Otter, ensuring our missions can be executed autonomously and with precision.

Five years ago, we were working in a public library—today, we're building Otters for NASA, the Space Force, and Intelsat. As we celebrate Starfish Space's 5-year anniversary, we're excited about the technologies we've developed and the upcoming Otter servicing missions they enable. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we showcase each of these technologies and unveil a new one!

Starfish Space has been awarded a mission study contract by @SemperCitiusSDA. We look forward to analyzing how Otter could provide critical satellite disposal missions in support of our national space assets in low-Earth orbit.

🛰️ Announcing our first commercial Otter mission for @INTELSAT. We are proud to be providing satellite services to the largest geostationary satellite operator and a pioneering space company. Otter will maximize the value Intelsat’s satellites can deliver to their customers, starting in 2026. Read more >>

Go behind the scenes with @wapodavenport from @washingtonpost as he highlights the story of Otter Pup and Starfish. We couldn’t be more excited to share our journey with the world. 🌟🛰️

Today we announce the conclusion of the Otter Pup mission. A robust little satellite, it validated Starfish tech, anchored our physics models, and even captured images during a rendezvous. Congratulations to Otter Pup on a well deserved retirement! Throughout this mission we’ve felt grateful to be a part of a dynamic and supportive industry. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported this project, particularly our partners who helped make the mission possible. We hope you all enjoy one final image captured by Otter Pup of our Nautilus capture mechanism overlooking Earth. 🌎

🛰️ The reduction in launch costs and proliferation of satellites have made all kinds of new businesses possible, including Starfish! Our Co-founder @AustinLink joined @AcquiredFM to discuss the exciting developments in the space industry. Listen in!

This STRATFI award combines $37.5 million in new Space Force funding with venture capital investment, for a total value of $67.5 million. Thank you to our partners at Space Systems Command (SSC) Assured Access to Space (AATS), Space Safari, SSC Commercial Space Office (COMSO), SpaceWERX and AFWERX. @USSF_SSC @SpaceWERXDOD @AFWERX

🌟🛰️ Otter Pup News! We have successfully completed an on-orbit rendezvous between Otter Pup and a @D_Orbit ION spacecraft. On Friday, April 19th, Otter Pup pointed its cameras and captured images of ION within close proximity. Read more at:

We are excited to announce an investment from IQT in Starfish Space. IQT is a leading investor in national security, defense, and space tech, and we are proud to welcome them to the Starfish team. We look forward to partnering as we enable a new paradigm for on-orbit operations.

Thank you @RepAdamSmith for visiting Starfish! It was great to talk about satellite servicing and space debris removal with Otter.⭐️

🛰️It's a privilege to work alongside SpaceWERX and the United States Space Force in our quest for cutting-edge Tactically Responsive Space capabilities.