{"id":17283,"date":"2023-06-21T20:28:07","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T12:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spinning-spacecraft-adds-unwelcome-twist-to-starfish-spaces-docking-test-mission\/"},"modified":"2023-06-21T20:28:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T12:28:07","slug":"spinning-spacecraft-adds-unwelcome-twist-to-starfish-spaces-docking-test-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spinning-spacecraft-adds-unwelcome-twist-to-starfish-spaces-docking-test-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Spinning spacecraft adds unwelcome twist to Starfish Space\u2019s docking test mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In this clean-room photo, Starfish Space\u2019s Otter Pup docking spacecraft is attached to the top of Launcher\u2019s Orbiter SN3 space tug. (Launcher \/ Starfish Space Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Starfish Space\u2019s ambitious mission to test its on-orbit satellite docking system has taken an unfortunate turn \u2014 or, more precisely, an unfortunate spin.<\/p>\n

The Kent, Wash.-based startup\u2019s Otter Pup spacecraft was one of 72 payloads sent into low Earth orbit on June 12 by SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket for Transporter-8, a dedicated rideshare mission. Otter Pup and several other spacecraft were attached to Launcher\u2019s Orbiter SN3, a space tug that\u2019s designed to release piggyback payloads at different times.<\/p>\n

Soon after Orbiter SN3 separated from the Falcon 9 upper stage, it experienced an anomaly that set it spinning at a rate on the order of one revolution per second, far outside the bounds of normal operating conditions.<\/p>\n

By the time Launcher\u2019s team made contact with Orbiter, fuel and power levels were critically low \u2014 and the team made an emergency decision to deploy Otter Pup immediately. In a joint statement issued today, Launcher and Starfish Space said that quick action \u201cgave the Otter Pup mission a chance to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

With assistance from Astro Digital and ground station partners, Starfish\u2019s team contacted Otter Pup and determined that it was generating power \u2014 but was also spinning because of the circumstances of its emergency deployment. <\/p>\n

Starfish co-founder Austin Link told GeekWire that the spacecraft, which is about the size of a dorm-room fridge, has drifted several kilometers away from its Orbiter mothership. \u201cThey\u2019re still in the same orbital neighborhood,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Starfish\u2019s mission plan called for Otter Pup to execute a series of maneuvers leading up to a rendezvous and docking with Orbiter. Such maneuvers would demonstrate that Starfish\u2019s guidance and navigation system, electric propulsion system and electrostatic capture system all work in orbit as designed. But Link said the maneuvers can\u2019t be done unless the spinning can be stabilized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re uncertain what the future for the vehicle is,\u201d Link said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be very challenging to de-tumble and arrest the momentum. There\u2019s also a chance that things have been damaged by this rotation rate that would prevent us from being able to do the mission going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as if that\u2019s not challenging enough, Orbiter SN3 is no longer available as a docking target because of its own rotation rate. We\u2019ve reached out to California-based Launcher, which was recently acquired by a space station startup known as Vast, and will update this report with anything we hear back.<\/p>\n

\u201cOtter Pup is still alive, but the mission is hanging on by a thread,\u201d Link said.<\/p>\n

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