Starfish Space Prepares Otter Vehicle for NASA Debris Inspection
Starfish Space has finished its first full-scale Otter servicing vehicle and will send it to low Earth orbit on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare. The spacecraft will carry out NASA's $15 million SSPICY mission, inspecting defunct U.S. satellites by measuring their spin and surface conditions. The brief also covers NASA-ESA partnership tensions and a Danish intelligence warning about Russian hybrid attacks.
Starfish Space’s Otter vehicle is slated to ride SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare no earlier than October 2026. Under NASA’s $15 million SSPICY contract, it will approach several inactive U.S. satellites in low Earth orbit and assess their rotation rate, rotation axis, and exterior condition. NASA describes this as its first agency-funded commercial debris inspection effort.
The mission follows earlier pathfinders. Otter Pup 1 launched in 2023, survived a transfer-tug failure and tumble, and still achieved a roughly one-kilometer rendezvous. Otter Pup 2 launched in June 2025 and has practiced relative navigation. Starfish also holds contracts for GEO life extension, national-security rendezvous and proximity operations, and satellite deorbiting.
Successful debris inspection could give satellite operators, insurers, and regulators better data on derelict objects, potentially improving collision-risk assessments. It may also strengthen the case for commercial servicing by showing that robotic proximity operations can work in low Earth orbit. NASA and private firms could benefit from lower-cost inspection options, while growing military and civil interest in rendezvous capabilities may prompt more debate over transparency, norms, and dual-use risks.