Space Force buys second Otter spacecraft to power satellites on orbit

WASHINGTON — Startup Starfish Space has won a $54.5 million contract to provide the Space Force with a second Otter satellite-servicing craft to support “dynamic space operations” in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), according to the company.

The contract is funded via the Defense Department’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program designed to speed kit to operators, Starfish said in a Feb. 7 press release. It is among the largest contracts the program has awarded to date, as well as the sole contract issued to a space firm this funding cycle, the company noted.

APFIT, launched in 2022 by the Office of Research and Engineering, provides “procurement funding for innovative projects that have completed development and are ready to transition into operational use,” according to a DoD fact sheet.

Michael Madrid, Starfish’s chief growth officer, said in an email the new contract reflects the Otter’s shift to become an established product even as it must prove itself in real-world operations.

Otters essentially act as an additional engine by docking with a satellite to provide supplemental power, Starfish says. That power can keep the spacecraft in position or scoot it elsewhere as needed.

“Through dynamic space operations and autonomous augmented maneuver, we enable the Space Force to sustain critical space assets, increase resilience, and maintain operational flexibility across evolving mission demands,” Starfish cofounder Austin Link said.

Starfish in May 2024 won a $37 million Space Systems Command (SSC) Strategic Funding Increase contract to build, launch and operate the Space Force’s first Otter vehicle for two years.

That spacecraft “will be ready for launch this year,” Madrid said, but noted an exact date hasn’t been set for its National Security Space Launch mission that will carry it to orbit.

Under the new contract, Starfish is slated to deliver the second Otter in 2028.

Madrid said that while the Space Force has chosen which satellites it wants both Otters to service, the company is not authorized to reveal that information.

The company on Jan. 21 also nabbed a first-of-its-kind Space Development Agency contract worth $52.5 million to dispose of dead Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) satellites stationed in low Earth orbit.

The new award follows US Space Command head Gen. Stephen Whiting’s Jan. 28 call for a Space Force pivot to maneuver-based space operations, including increased investment in enabling technologies such as refueling, repair and on-orbit logistics, as well as new scaled-up exercises. While SPACECOM leaders have been lobbying hard for such new capabilities to allow satellites more agility on orbit, the Space Force remains fundamentally undecided about the wisdom of full-scale investment.