Otter is tasked with performing an initial deorbit for one satellite in the SDA’s PWSA constellation and has options to perform additional deorbits.
Starfish Space will launch an Otter spacecraft for the deorbit mission in 2027, and the Otter spacecraft can deorbit multiple satellites in a single flight.
The Otter is an ESPA-class satellite servicing vehicle designed for autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking.
The Otter is approximately ten times smaller in mass than traditional satellite servicers and uses high-efficiency electric propulsion to execute high-precision maneuvers at a lower cost profile.
Starfish Space builds the Otter spacecraft servicing vehicle.
Validation of the Nautilus mechanism during the Otter Pup 2 mission will be the final technical gate before the Otter begins its multi-year deorbiting campaign for the Space Force.
The first operational Otter vehicles supporting the $52.5 million disposal contract are expected to launch in late 2026.
Under the contract, Starfish Space will use its Otter servicing vehicle to autonomously dock with and safely deorbit defunct satellites within the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
Starfish’s upcoming Otter satellite servicing missions will be powered by CETACEAN and CEPHALOPOD software suite.
The OTTER spacecraft is a 3U CubeSat that SpaceX launched from the United States.
OTTER uses one antenna to receive position signals from ships while its onboard camera acquires images to verify the reported locations.
At about six kilograms, OTTER falls into the nanosatellite class, defined for satellites up to ten kilograms.
Teams at the ground station will process and evaluate the data from OTTER.
The OTTER mission will operate for about two years in low Earth orbit before the satellite re-enters Earth's atmosphere.
During its planned two-year mission, OTTER will downlink data from ships' Automatic Identification System (AIS) along with camera imagery to a ground station.
OTTER serves as a testbed for methods to design, build, and operate systems for monitoring marine activities from orbit.
DLR's Responsive Space Cluster Competence Center (RSC3) in Trauen, Lower Saxony, manages the OTTER mission and conducts research on responsive space concepts for maritime applications.
The OTTER spacecraft is equipped with an electric propulsion system to hasten its controlled destructive re-entry.
The VLEO Otter mission aims to demonstrate the world’s first air-breathing spacecraft.
DARPA awarded a $44 million contract to Redwire to advance its VLEO Otter mission.