{"id":17256,"date":"2023-10-04T01:51:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T17:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/starfish-space-wins-nasa-contract-to-plan-demonstration-of-orbital-debris-inspection\/"},"modified":"2023-10-04T01:51:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T17:51:07","slug":"starfish-space-wins-nasa-contract-to-plan-demonstration-of-orbital-debris-inspection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/starfish-space-wins-nasa-contract-to-plan-demonstration-of-orbital-debris-inspection\/","title":{"rendered":"Starfish Space wins NASA contract to plan demonstration of orbital debris inspection"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/231003-starfish-630x354.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-792779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/231003-starfish-630x354.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/231003-starfish-1260x709.png 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/231003-starfish-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/231003-starfish-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/231003-starfish.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">An artist\u2019s conception shows the Otter inspection spacecraft silhouetted against Earth as it closes in on a target satellite. (Starfish Space Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even as Starfish Space works to get its first orbital demonstration mission back on track, the Tukwila, Wash.-based startup has won a contract from NASA to look into an even more ambitious project to inspect orbital debris up close.<\/p>\n<p>The newly announced study contract follows up on earlier work that Starfish has done to prove out features of its system for making a rendezvous with other spacecraft in orbit \u2014 and either servicing them or guiding them to their demise.<\/p>\n<p>Some of those features \u2014 including Starfish\u2019s Cetacean relative navigation software and its Cephalopod autonomous guidance software \u2014 could be tested sometime in the next few months on the company\u2019s Otter Pup prototype spacecraft, which was sent into orbit in June but was forced into an unfortunate spin during deployment. Starfish stabilized the spin in August and is currently making sure that all of Otter Pup\u2019s systems are in working order for future tests.<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s follow-up contract, awarded through the space agency\u2019s Small Business Innovation Research program, or SBIR, calls for Starfish to assess the feasibility of using its full-scale Otter satellite servicing vehicle to rendezvous with large pieces of space debris and inspect them.<\/p>\n<p>NASA and other federal agencies are getting more serious about addressing the proliferation of orbital debris: Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed new regulations that would require space operators to do more to avoid leaving debris behind \u2014 and this week, the FAA said it fined Dish Network $150,000 for failing to remove a satellite from geostationary orbit properly. <\/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 Space says its Otter spacecraft could serve as a robotic repair crew for satellites that need servicing, or as a robotic cleanup crew for orbital debris.<\/p>\n<p>In an email exchange, Starfish co-founder Trevor Bennett told GeekWire that NASA\u2019s SBIR Phase III contract will help his company clear the way for Otter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe undertaking of this project is in alignment with Starfish\u2019s technology maturation trajectory, which includes the development of an Otter vehicle, anticipated to be operational for on-orbit tasks as soon as 2025,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett said the contract \u201caims to explore a potential mission to examine multiple debris objects in orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis type of mission would entail rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) and the detailed characterization of the debris,\u201d he said. \u201cBefore any disposal mission can commence, an inspection acts as a preliminary step. It\u2019s essential to first inspect the object, gather relevant data and pinpoint potential docking sites.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An orbital inspection mission like the one envisioned by Starfish \u201ccan serve as a valuable precursor to many missions, including active debris removal,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n<p>The contract\u2019s monetary value wasn\u2019t announced. If everything goes the way Starfish hopes, the biggest payoff is likely to come in the form of future opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNASA sees our collaboration efforts building toward an actual flight demonstration to prove out rendezvous and proximity operations capability,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cThis three-month concept study contract term has the potential for a follow-on multimillion-dollar on-orbit demonstration mission contract.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows the Otter inspection spacecraft silhouetted against Earth as it closes in on a target satellite. (Starfish Space Illustration) Even as Starfish Space works to get its first orbital demonstration mission back on track, the Tukwila, Wash.-based startup has won a contract from NASA to look into an even more ambitious project [&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":[190,4355,4180,4344],"class_list":["post-17256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nasa","tag-sbir","tag-space-junk","tag-starfish-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17256"}],"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=17256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}