Starfish Space

Starfish Space is a Seattle, Washington company developing autonomous on-orbit servicing spacecraft using groundbreaking guidance and control software and binocular computer vision navigation. Founded in 2020 by Austin Link and Trevor Bennett, the company has built and flown the Otter spacecraft family, targeting satellite life extension, orbital disposal, inspection, and logistics missions.

Starfish Space's core technology stack includes three proprietary software systems: Cetacean (binocular computer vision navigation software for relative position/velocity/attitude), Cephalopod (autonomous guidance and control software for complex RPOD missions with built-in safety logic), and Nautilus (a reusable docking device that can adhere to virtually any flat surface on a satellite — no pre-installed docking interface required). Together these enable Starfish to rendezvous with and dock to satellites not originally designed for servicing.

The company's first mission, Otter Pup, launched on SpaceX Transporter-9 in June 2023. After recovering from a thruster anomaly, Otter Pup completed an autonomous rendezvous and close-proximity operation with a D-Orbit ION satellite in May 2024. Starfish has since won a $37.5M US Space Force contract and a $29M funding round (November 2024) to advance commercial life extension and disposal missions, including a contracted 2026 life extension mission for a GEO telecommunications satellite.