{"id":17200,"date":"2024-05-21T01:12:20","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T17:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/space-force-and-starfish-space-lay-out-their-roadmap-for-satellite-docking-mission\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T01:12:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T17:12:20","slug":"space-force-and-starfish-space-lay-out-their-roadmap-for-satellite-docking-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/space-force-and-starfish-space-lay-out-their-roadmap-for-satellite-docking-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Space Force and Starfish Space lay out their roadmap for satellite docking mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An artist\u2019s conception shows the Otter spacecraft in geostationary Earth orbit. (Starfish Space Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The U.S. Space Force says a Pentagon partnership with Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space will result in a \u201cfirst-of-its-kind docking mission\u201d aimed at adding to the maneuverability of national security assets on orbit.<\/p>\n

Starfish Space\u2019s $37.5 million contract for a demonstration of the startup\u2019s Otter satellite docking spacecraft was awarded two weeks ago, but the Space Force\u2019s Space Systems Command released further details about the project today. <\/p>\n

The Space Systems Command said its Assured Access to Space program will be working in partnership with Starfish Space as well as the Air Force Research Laboratory\u2019s SpaceWERX program, Space Safari and the SSC Commercial Space Office to improve the responsiveness, resilience and strategic flexibility of America\u2019s space assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is another step forward in delivering what our warfighters require in sustained space maneuver,\u201d said Col. Joyce Bulson, director of servicing, mobility and logistics in the Assured Access to Space program.<\/p>\n

Starfish Space recently tested a small-scale version of its Otter system, known as Otter Pup, after overcoming a string of technical setbacks. The Otter Pup team used the spacecraft\u2019s sensing and guidance system to orchestrate a rendezvous with another satellite in orbit.<\/p>\n

The full-scale Otter would be capable of docking with other satellites, either to refuel them or to help them change course in orbit \u2014 a capability that the Space Force calls \u201caugmented maneuver.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a wide range of applications for Starfish Space\u2019s Otter in addition to augmented maneuver, such as station-keeping or life extension, orbital transfer and ultimately orbital disposal, which assures access to key orbital slots while demonstrating responsible norms in space,\u201d Bulson said.<\/p>\n

The contract was awarded through the Department of the Air Force\u2019s Strategic Funding Increase program, or STRATFI. Such contracts are structured to leverage private capital investment as a matching source of funds, spread over performance periods of up to four years.<\/p>\n

The Otter project will draw upon the $37.5 million in funding from the Space Force as well as $30 million in past and future venture capital investment, Starfish said. The aim of the demonstration mission will be to send an Otter spacecraft to geostationary Earth orbit, or GEO, to dock with and maneuver national security assets. The specific assets to be maneuvered and the detailed plan for operations have not yet been made public.<\/p>\n

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