{"id":17190,"date":"2024-06-26T21:45:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T13:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/starfish-space-signs-contract-with-intelsat-for-satellite-servicing-beginning-in-2026\/"},"modified":"2024-06-26T21:45:43","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T13:45:43","slug":"starfish-space-signs-contract-with-intelsat-for-satellite-servicing-beginning-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/starfish-space-signs-contract-with-intelsat-for-satellite-servicing-beginning-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Starfish Space signs contract with Intelsat for satellite servicing beginning in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Starfish_Otter_2024-630x389.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-828659\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Starfish_Otter_2024-630x389.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Starfish_Otter_2024-1260x777.png 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Starfish_Otter_2024-768x474.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Starfish_Otter_2024-1536x947.png 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Starfish_Otter_2024-2048x1263.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">An artist\u2019s conception shows Starfish\u2019s Otter satellite servicing spacecraft. (Starfish Space Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space has signed a contract with Intelsat to provide on-orbit life extension services to a geostationary satellite beginning in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the first commercial contract for Starfish\u2019s Otter satellite servicing spacecraft, which is currently under development. The deal follows up on Starfish\u2019s $37.5 million contract with the U.S. Space Force for a satellite docking demonstration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarfish Space is delighted to be supporting Intelsat with services provided by Otter,\u201d Starfish Space co-founder Trevor Bennett said today in a news release. \u201cThey are an incredible team at the forefront of the industry, and the Otter will help them deliver even more to their customers. We\u2019re also excited that this will be the first of many Otters that will make on-orbit servicing a standard part of satellite operations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jean-Luc Froeliger, Intelsat\u2019s senior vice president of space systems, said the Otter contract serves as a \u201cperfect example\u201d of Intelsat\u2019s commitment to innovation and new technologies. \u201cWe look forward to utilizing the services provided by their Otter satellite to maximize the value the world\u2019s largest&nbsp;geostationary satellite fleet&nbsp;can deliver for our customers,\u201d Froeliger said.<\/p>\n<p>Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed, and Intelsat isn\u2019t saying exactly which satellite will be serviced. The plan calls for Otter to begin by docking with and maneuvering a retired Intelsat satellite in geostationary graveyard orbit. Then Otter would move on to dock with an operational Intelsat satellite. Otter would use its onboard propulsion system to keep that satellite in an operational orbit for additional years of life.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SGx2023 - Dr. Trevor Bennett - Starfish Space\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/drwp6WaSj48?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Starfish isn\u2019t the only company on board to provide satellite life extension services for Intelsat. During a landmark 2020 mission, Northrop Grumman\u2019s MEV-1 servicing spacecraft docked with a retired Intelsat satellite to move it into an operational orbit. A year later, Northrop Grumman\u2019s MEV-2 hooked up with an operational but aging Intelsat satellite for refueling. In April, Intelsat announced a deal with Northrop Grumman\u2019s SpaceLogistics subsidiary to have a mission extension \u201cjet pack\u201d installed on a satellite in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The technologies that will go into Otter were tested over the past year during Starfish Space\u2019s Otter Pup demonstration mission. That mission ran up against a series of challenges but ended up showing how Starfish\u2019s orbital maneuvering system could be employed to rendezvous with other satellites in orbit. Otter could be used to refuel or maneuver satellites to extend their life \u2014 or deorbit them when they\u2019re no longer useful.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett and Starfish Space\u2019s other co-founder, Austin Link, are both veterans of Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture. The startup was founded in 2019 and has attracted a little more than $21 million in total investment as of last year. It has also won technology development contracts from NASA as well as the Space Force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows Starfish\u2019s Otter satellite servicing spacecraft. (Starfish Space Illustration) Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space has signed a contract with Intelsat to provide on-orbit life extension services to a geostationary satellite beginning in 2026. It\u2019s the first commercial contract for Starfish\u2019s Otter satellite servicing spacecraft, which is currently under development. The deal follows up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1255,20,442,4344],"class_list":["post-17190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-intelsat","tag-satellite","tag-satellites","tag-starfish-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}