NASA funds Starfish Space debris inspection mission | Space

WASHINGTON — NASA awarded a $15 million contract to Starfish Space to fund development of a debris inspection mission as the agency examines the future of a bigger satellite servicing project.

NASA announced Sept. 25 that it awarded a Phase 3 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to Seattle-based Starfish Space to complete development of a mission called Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability, or SSPICY, scheduled for launch in late 2026.

SSPICY will use the company’s Otter spacecraft, roughly the size of a kitchen oven, to approach and inspect several U.S.-owned defunct spacecraft in low Earth orbit using electric propulsion. The Otter vehicle will come within a few hundred meters of each spacecraft, observing its condition before moving on to the next object.

“The SSPICY mission is designed to mature technologies needed for U.S. commercial capabilities for satellite servicing and logistics or disposal,” said Bo Naasz, senior technical lead for in-space servicing, manufacturing, and assembly in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, in an agency statement.

Starfish Space said it has a list of potential objects that the SSPICY mission will visit, but did not disclose them. The spacecraft will only approach those objects whose owners have granted permission for the inspections.

“Collaborating with NASA on this mission…