Starfish Space has announced its next demonstration mission, Otter Pup 2, scheduled for launch this summer. It will conduct the first-ever commercial docking with an unprepared satellite in low-Earth orbit.
Starfish Space was founded in 2019. The main activities of the company are docking and servicing of spacecraft. In 2023, it sent its first demonstration mission, Otter Pup 1, into space. Despite technical problems during the launch related to the OTV vehicle that put it out, it still managed to accomplish its main task and to practice the technology of approaching another satellite (the minimum distance was 1 km), as well as to photograph it.
This success allowed Starfish Space to embark on a new and considerably more ambitious task. The company plans to perform a rendezvous and docking with a commercial vehicle in low Earth orbit. A key feature of the mission, called Otter Pup 2, is that the target satellite will be “unprepared”: it will not have the special adapters that are traditionally used for docking in space.
Otter Pup 2 will travel to space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-14 mission. Its launch is scheduled for June. After separation, the vehicle will begin a long approach to the target. This will allow to practice a scenario for future commercial operations where the servicing vehicle will approach the satellites from different points in orbit. The D-Orbit ION vehicle will be used as the target.
A system of cameras and special algorithms will have to allow Otter Pup 2 to safely approach the satellite and eliminate the possibility of a collision even in the event of any malfunction. The initial docking will last only a few minutes, followed by undocking and moving away to a safe distance. The operation will then be repeated.
According to Starfish Space, the Otter Pup 2 is capable of attaching itself to any flat surface the size of a hand. This provides the capability to service virtually any spacecraft in Earth orbit.
Earlier we published a video by Varda Space showing the return of its W-3 satellite from space.
According to Starfishspace
