SIGNAL LOST: STARFISH OTTER 24C DECLARED DEAD ON ARRIVAL
Starfish Space has lost communication with its Otter 24C spacecraft, effectively ending the $15M NASA SSPICY debris inspection mission just one month after launch.
MISSION TERMINATED
Starfish Space has officially confirmed the loss of its Otter 24C spacecraft, marking a premature end to the $15 million NASA-funded SSPICY (Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability) mission. According to Payload, the vehicle has likely joined the orbital debris field it was designed to study.
ANOMALY REPORT
Otter 24C deployed via SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission on October 1. While initial ground contact was established, the mission collapsed during the commissioning phase. The failure originated within the satellite bus provided by Astro Digital. A fault protection error triggered an unintended shutdown of the on-board radio, effectively severing the link between mission control and the hardware. Starfish remains unable to reestablish the uplink.
PATTERN OF FAILURE
This incident marks the second orbital loss for Starfish due to third-party hardware issues. In 2023, the Otter Pup 1 mission nearly ended in a "death spiral" after an anomaly with its Launcher-provided ride-to-space caused a 330-degree-per-second tumble. While engineers saved that craft, Otter 24C offers no such recovery path.
STRATEGIC OUTLOOK
Despite the setback, Starfish maintains its forward momentum. The company’s Otter Pup 2 recently demonstrated successful proximity maneuvers, coming within 33 meters of Gilmour Space’s ElaraSat. Fixing the Astro Digital bus vulnerabilities is now the primary directive as Starfish prepares to fulfill a $52.5M SDA contract for satellite deorbiting.
For NASA, this is a significant blow to its In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) goals, following the recent failure of the Katalyst Space mission. Starfish indicates it may attempt to complete SSPICY objectives using alternative assets.