Starfish Space wins $52.5M SDA contract for deorbit-as-a-service

Starfish Space said it has been awarded a $52.5 million contract by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency to provide an end-of-life satellite disposal service, branded as deorbit-as-a-service, for satellites in the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The company said the work will include building, launching and operating an Otter servicing vehicle with a planned launch in 2027.

Starfish, a Tukwila, Washington startup commonly described as Seattle-area, portrayed the award as operational rather than experimental. On its LinkedIn page the company wrote the contract “allows us to build, launch and operate an Otter to provide end of life services for the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, maximizing the capabilities the constellation can deliver for the warfighter,” and described the award as “the first end-of-life disposal contract for a low Earth orbit satellite constellation in history.”

The Otter spacecraft is designed to rendezvous with, capture, maneuver and release other satellites and then steer them onto controlled atmospheric reentry trajectories that avoid creating hazards for other orbital assets. Starfish said the vehicle will depart to service additional targets after each disposal operation, a design intended to support repeatable, scalable service across a large constellation.

“This is not research and development. This is an actual service, in a structure that allows that service to scale for this constellation, for an entire industry,” co-founder Trevor Bennett said, adding the arrangement validates both the SDA’s constellation approach and “the path that we can take with the industry at large.”

The contract represents an unusual commercial bid to solve a growing orbital sustainability problem. Low Earth orbit has become busier and more contested as military, commercial and civil actors deploy thousands of small satellites. End-of-life disposal has typically been handled by satellite operators using their own propulsion or by international norms that are inconsistently followed. A commercial service that can remove decommissioned or malfunctioning satellites could reduce long-term collision risk and lower the chance of cascading debris events.

Starfish’s path to this contract includes years of government and private backing for on-orbit servicing technology. The company won a NASA SBIR to further relative-navigation software in 2022, announced early Otter Pup demonstrations the same year and reported completion of a rendezvous mission in 2024. It closed a $14 million Series A in 2023 and secured multiple contracts in 2024, including work on geostationary servicing, an inspection mission for NASA and a concept study for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Industry reaction on Starfish’s public posts ranged from congratulations to technical and policy queries, with followers asking about refuelability and insurance arrangements for on-orbit servicing. Starfish has not disclosed the full contract text or detailed technical specifications beyond the high-level Otter capabilities and the 2027 launch target, leaving questions about pricing per removal, rules of engagement in crowded orbits, and coordination with other operators.

The award marks a commercial milestone for satellite lifecycle services and raises policy questions about the growth of active on-orbit capabilities. If the Otter operates as described, it could set precedents for commercial disposal contracts and for how military and civilian operators manage constellation sustainability. Regulators, insurers and satellite operators will watch closely as Starfish moves from demonstrations to a claimed operational service.