Launch
Starfish Space loses contact with 1st 'Otter' servicing spacecraft, ending NASA tech-demo mission
The Brief
- Starfish Space announced on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that its first Otter servicing spacecraft, Otter 24C, suffered a glitch in low Earth orbit and is not recoverable.
- The loss ends a NASA technology-demonstration mission only about a month after the spacecraft reached orbit.
- The Seattle startup has lost contact with the satellite.
Why it matters
The failure of an early commercial satellite-servicing vehicle shows how difficult in-orbit servicing remains, which bears on the feasibility of extending the lives of satellites and reducing space debris.
Who’s affected
- space engineers and satellite operators
- researchers depending on in-orbit servicing and life extension of spacecraft
- Otter 24C
- #satellite servicing
- #starfish space
- #low earth orbit
- #nasa tech demo
- #spacecraft anomaly
Starfish Space's first Otter has died, just a month after it reached the final frontier. The Seattle startup announced on Tuesday (Nov. 3) that its Otter 24C satellite suffered a glitch in low Earth orbit (LEO) and is not recoverable. The anomaly killed an ambitious mission in…
Timeline
Starfish Space announces Otter 24C suffered a glitch in low Earth orbit and is not recoverable
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Starfish Space loses contact with 1st 'Otter' servicing spacecraft, ending NASA tech-demo mission