Starfish Space, a company looking into orbital servicing solutions, announced that they had received a $3 million contract from National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) within the Defense Innovation Unit of the US Department of Defense. The contract is in support of Starfish Space’s Nautilus docking system that is a core component on the company’s Otter satellite servicing vehicle. The first demonstration of the Nautilus system is set to happen this year as part of the Otter Pup demonstration flight.

“We are excited to partner with NSIC to advance the development of Nautilus, a critical enabler of our mission to finally make satellite servicing missions affordable and available for government and commercial customers,” says Trevor Bennett, Co-Founder of Starfish Space. “We are pleased to see NSIC recognize the value of these missions and the technology we are developing at Starfish.”

The Nautilus docking system is being designed to allow capture and docking with satellites currently in orbit that don’t have any sort of docking mechanisms already built into them. The device can attach to all materials commonly used on the exteriors of satellites and only requires a flat surface roughly the size of an outstretched hand to maintain contact. This allows the Otter servicing satellite to attach to most currently active satellites

The initial prototype that will fly on the Otter Pup mission in 2023 has been designed to use electrostatic adhesive technology. If the Otter Pup mission proves to be a success, it will be the first time two commercial satellites have docked with each other, and be the beginning of a growing industry centered around the in-orbit servicing and life extension of satellites.

The technology being developed by Starfish won’t just benefit active satellites, though. The Otter servicing vehicles will also be able to help with the growing problem of orbital debris. The technology that would allow the Otter to move to and attach to active satellites can be used to reach and manipulate the orbits of dead satellites or other chunks of debris. These could then be pushed out of orbit toward the Earth, where they would burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

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