Starfish Space has officially ended its SSPICY mission after losing contact with the Otter 24C satellite. The spacecraft, which launched on October 1 via SpaceX Transporter-18, was intended to inspect defunct US satellites for NASA under a $15 million contract.
The mission failure occurred during the commissioning phase when a fault in the Astro Digital bus caused the radio to shut down. This marks the second time Starfish has encountered issues with third-party hardware, following a 2023 incident where a satellite entered a spin after deployment from a Launcher vehicle.
Despite the loss of Otter 24C, Starfish continues its operations. The company recently demonstrated proximity maneuvers with its Otter Pup 2 spacecraft, which approached Gilmour Space’s ElaraSat within 33 meters. Starfish plans to implement fixes to the Astro Digital bus for future missions.
The company remains a key partner for the US government, having secured a $52.5 million contract from the Space Development Agency in January. This agreement focuses on satellite deorbiting services as part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
