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The SDA award is Starfish Space’s second contract with the U.S. Space Force.
Space Systems Command awarded Starfish Space a $37.5 million STRATFI contract in June 2024 to demonstrate augmented maneuver capabilities for national security assets in geostationary orbit.
The contract with Starfish Space covers end-of-life satellite disposal services for satellites in the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture constellation.
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 U.S. Space Force awarded Starfish Space a $52.5 million contract to deorbit satellites in the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture constellation when those satellites reach their expiration dates.
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.
In 2024 the Space Development Agency awarded six study contracts worth a combined $1.9 million to Starfish Space, Arkisys, Impulse Space, Quantum Space, Sierra Space, and SpaceWorks Enterprises to study the feasibility of deorbiting PWSA satellites.
Under the Starfish Space contract, the Department of Defense can continue procuring deorbit services beyond the initial deorbit mission.
Starfish Space completed an autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations demonstration in Low Earth Orbit with Impulse Space during which Starfish’s payload autonomously controlled the LEO Express 2 Mira and brought it within approximately 1,250 meters of the LEO Express 1 Mira.
Starfish Space builds the Otter spacecraft servicing vehicle.
Space Systems Command awarded Starfish Space a $52.5 million contract to provide end-of-life disposal services for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
Starfish Space will build an Otter spacecraft targeted for launch in 2027.
Starfish Space identified the $52.5 million award as the first contracted mission specifically for end-of-life satellite disposal services compared with typical missions that treat disposal as a one-off or a demonstration.
Starfish Space is headquartered in Tukwila, Washington.
Starfish Space has three publicly announced missions scheduled for 2026: a Space Force mission, a Geostationary Orbit servicing mission for Intelsat (now SES), and NASA’s Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission.
Trevor Bennett is a cofounder of Starfish Space.
The Space Development Agency awarded Starfish Space a $52.5 million contract to perform end-of-life deorbiting for a satellite in the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture with options for additional deorbits.
Starfish Space is headquartered in Washington state.
The LEO Express 2 Mira performed close-proximity maneuvers with the software provided by Starfish Space.
The Starfish Space Otter mission will begin with an initial deorbit and includes options for multiple additional deorbits enabled by Otter’s capacity to service several satellites in a single mission.