Starfish Space
Develops autonomous satellite servicing vehicles using electric propulsion for life extension, disposal, and on-orbit maneuvering
Starfish Space builds autonomous satellite servicing vehicles designed to rendezvous with, dock, and reposition spacecraft in orbit. The company's flagship Otter vehicle uses exclusively electric propulsion and is significantly smaller and less expensive than alternatives, enabling affordable servicing at scale. Otter performs satellite life extension by maintaining orbital position and end-of-life disposal by deorbiting defunct spacecraft. The company's proprietary software stack includes CETACEAN, a computer-vision-based relative navigation system, and CEPHALOPOD, autonomous guidance and control software for trajectory planning and docking. Hardware innovations include the Nautilus universal docking mechanism for unprepared satellite surfaces and the Manta articulating boom for precision thrusting while docked. Starfish Space has validated its technology through on-orbit demonstrations including the Otter Pup 1 rendezvous mission and the Otter Pup 2 commercial docking attempt. The company holds contracts with the U.S. Space Force, NASA, the Space Development Agency, and Intelsat for missions spanning geostationary and low Earth orbit.
Operates orbital transfer vehicles for last-mile satellite delivery, hosted payload services, space cloud computing, and in-orbit servicing
Builds rapid-response orbital servicing vehicles for close-proximity inspection, monitoring, and protection of space assets across all Earth orbits
Designs, builds, and operates autonomous spacecraft for space domain awareness, debris removal, and in-orbit servicing using gridded ion propulsion