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Starfish doubles down on Space Force satellite servicing

Illustration: Otter spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit with Earth in background
An artist’s conception shows Starfish Space’s Otter spacecraft in geosynchronous Earth orbit. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space has been awarded a $54.5 million contract to produce another Otter satellite servicing spacecraft for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command.

The deal, announced this week, builds on a $37.5 million Space Systems Command contract that was awarded in 2024 through the Department of the Air Force’s Strategic Funding Increase program, or STRATFI. This new contract is funded through a Pentagon program called Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies, or APFIT. Starfish noted that the award is the only APFIT contract issued to a space company in the current cycle and ranks among the largest in the program’s history.

Austin Link, co-founder of Starfish Space, said his company was “proud to grow our partnership with the Space Force under the APFIT program.”

“APFIT is a key program in transitioning platforms like Otter from development to deployed capability,” Link said today in a news release. “Through dynamic space operations and autonomous augmented maneuver, we enable the Space Force to sustain critical space assets, increase resilience and maintain operational flexibility across evolving mission demands.”

Like the earlier contract, the new one calls on Starfish to provide an Otter spacecraft for dynamic space operations in geosynchronous Earth orbit. Delivery is scheduled for 2028, with an option for two years of operational support.

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Starfish will set up disposal service for military satellites

Illustration: Starfish Space's Otter spacecraft near another satellite in orbit
An artist’s conception shows an Otter spacecraft in proximity to another satellite. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Starfish Space has secured a $52.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency to dispose of military satellites at the end of their operational lives.

The Tukwila, Wash.-based startup says it’s the first commercial deal ever struck to provide “deorbit-as-a-service,” or DaaS, for a satellite constellation in low Earth orbit. In this case, the constellation is the Pentagon’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, which provides global communications access and encrypted connectivity for military missions. The contract calls for Starfish Space to launch the satellite disposal service in 2027.

“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,” Starfish Space co-founder Trevor Bennett told me. He said the arrangement validates the Space Development Agency’s approach to building and maintaining its constellation, and also validates “the path that we can take with the industry at large.”

Starfish is developing a spacecraft called Otter that would be able to capture other satellites, maneuver them into different orbits, release them and then move on. In a deorbiting scenario, Otter would send the target satellite into a trajectory for atmospheric re-entry that wouldn’t pose a risk to other orbital assets.

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GeekWire

Seattle Space Week provides a peek at hypersonic blaster

Wave Motion founders show off Jet Gun in back of truck
Wave Motion co-founders James Penna and Finn van Donkelaar show off their Jet Gun in the back of a truck. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

Most weeklong tech events have opportunities for entrepreneurs to make contacts and trade tips, serious sessions where CEOs and public officials share their visions, and happy hours where future deals are made. But how many “tech weeks” include a show-and-tell featuring a military-grade Jet Gun?

That was one of the bonus attractions during Seattle Space Week, a smorgasbord of events served up by Space Northwest and its partners.

Just as attendees were sitting down for Monday’s opening session at the Pioneer Building in the heart of Pioneer Square, team members from Wave Motion Launch Corp. parked a box truck just outside the building and opened up the back to reveal the prototype jet blaster they’re testing for the U.S. Army.

Two of the Everett, Wash.-based startup’s co-founders, CEO Finn van Donkelaar and chief operating officer James Penna, stood in the truck and explained their project to a crowd that gathered around on the sidewalk.

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GeekWire

Space ventures see defense as the funding frontier

Illustration: Golden Dome visualization
The Golden Dome is envisioned as a network of satellites and interceptors that could counter incoming missiles. (Lockheed Martin Illustration)

Will the Golden Dome be a golden opportunity for commercial space ventures?

That may be a bit of an exaggeration. But at a Seattle Tech Week presentation on the space industry, a panel of entrepreneurs agreed that military projects — including a plan to create a missile defense shield along the lines of Israel’s Iron Dome by as early as 2028 — seem to be the most promising vehicles for getting commercial space ventures off the ground.

Part of the reason for that has to do with the uncertainty that’s surrounding America’s civilian space program. At the same time that the White House is pushing plans for the $175 billion Golden Dome project, it’s seeking to trim billions of dollars from NASA’s budget.

“It’s so interesting right now, because I think there’s more uncertainty around civil space funding than there’s ever been before, and more bullishness on defense space funding than there’s ever been before,” said Erika Wagner, who left Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture last year to lead The Exploration Company’s U.S. business development team.

Seattle-area space companies have been among the beneficiaries of the Pentagon’s surge of support — ranging from the $25 million in Space Force funding granted to Seattle-based Integrate in June to the $2.4 billion in Space Force launch contracts set aside for Kent-based Blue Origin earlier this year. Gravitics, Starfish Space and Portal Space Systems are among other Seattle-area space ventures benefiting from recent Pentagon contracts.

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GeekWire

Blue Origin wins a share of Space Force launch contracts

New Glenn rocket rises from launch pad
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket rises up from its Florida launch pad in January. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has been awarded $2.4 billion in the U.S. Space Force’s latest round of procurement for future national security launches.

“It’s an honor and huge responsibility to team with the U.S. government to launch our nation’s most important assets,” Jarrett Jones, Blue Origin’s senior vice president for New Glenn, said today in a news release. “Through this partnership, we’re looking forward to delivering on a number of critical national security priorities.”

The newly announced round — which is known as National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 — also allotted $5.9 billion in contracts to SpaceX, and $5.4 billion to United Launch Alliance.

The launch contracts will cover about 54 missions, with contracts to be awarded between now and the end of fiscal year 2029. The launches themselves are expected to take place during a period running from fiscal year 2027 to 2032. SpaceX is expected to get 28 missions, ULA would get 19 missions, and Blue Origin would be awarded seven missions starting next year.

Blue Origin would use its New Glenn rocket, which had its first test launch in January and is due for its second launch by the middle of this year. For what it’s worth, New Glenn hasn’t yet been officially certified for national security launches, but the Space Force expects that to happen by next year. SpaceX would use its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, while ULA would use its Vulcan rocket.

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Space Force adds Stoke and Rocket Lab to launch list

Illustration: Stoke Space Nova rocket in flight
An artist’s conception shows Stoke Space’s Nova rocket in flight. (Stoke Space Illustration)

The U.S. Space Force has added Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space and California-based Rocket Lab USA to the list of providers for its $5.6 billion round of national security launches.

Each company will receive a $5 million task order to assess its specific capabilities for future launches. Stoke and Rocket Lab join Jeff Bezos’ Kent-based Blue Origin space venture as well as SpaceX and United Launch Alliance on the Pentagon’s current launch service list, known as Phase 3 Lane 1. For this “lane,” the Space Force can select from those five providers during an ordering period that runs through mid-2029, with an option for a five-year extension.

Stoke Space is offering its fully reusable Nova rocket, while Rocket Lab is offering its Neutron rocket. Both of those launch vehicles are still in development and haven’t yet flown in space. Rocket Lab is planning its first Neutron launch in late 2025. Stoke’s first Nova launch could also come as early as this year.

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Gravitics wins Space Force support for orbital carrier

Illustration: Gravitics Orbital Carrier in space
An artist’s conception shows Gravitics’ Orbital Carrier with payloads ready for deployment. (Gravitics Illustration)

The U.S. Space Force has chosen Marysville, Wash.-based Gravitics to build and fly an orbital carrier that could deliver maneuverable space vehicles to the final frontier — and have them ready to respond to future threats.

The project will be supported by up to $60 million in funding, to be provided through the Space Force’s SpaceWERX STRATFI program. That funding would come from government sources as well as private sources, Gravitics said today in a news release.

“We’re honored to partner with the U.S. Space Force on this critical initiative.” Gravitics CEO Colin Doughan said. “The Orbital Carrier is a game-changer, acting as a pre-positioned launch pad in space. It bypasses traditional launch constraints, enabling space vehicle operators to rapidly select a deployment orbit on-demand.”

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Universe Today

Pentagon’s latest UFO report charts global hotspots

Map showing distribution of UFO / UAP sightings
This map from the Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office shows the global distribution for reports relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena in 2023-2024, with red and orange areas representing higher concentrations. (DoD / AARO Graphic)

The Pentagon office in charge of fielding UFO reports says that it has resolved 118 cases over the past year, with most of those anomalous objects turning out to be balloons. But it also says many other cases remain unresolved.

This year’s legally mandated report from the Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, also identifies areas of the world that seem to be hotspots for sightings of unidentified flying objects. Such objects have been re-branded as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs.

Today’s report come just one day after a House subcommittee hearing about UAPs, during which witnesses — and some lawmakers — voiced concerns about potential alien visitations and undisclosed efforts to gather evidence. In contrast, the Pentagon’s report for the 2023-2024 time period states that, “to date, AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology.”

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Fiction Science Club

How future satellite wars will be fought — and won

Illustration: Surveillance satellites in orbit
An artist's conception shows satellites that are part of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program. (Space Force Illustration)

Wars in space are no longer just science fiction. In fact, Space War I has been raging for more than two years, with no quick end in sight.

This isn’t the kind of conflict that involves X-wing fighters or Space Marines. Instead, it’s a battle over how satellites are being used to collect imagery, identify military targets and facilitate communications in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

“As I looked at Ukraine in the early months, it was obvious to me: This is the first space war,” says David Ignatius, a journalist who lives a double life as a foreign-affairs columnist for The Washington Post and a spy-thriller novelist.

In the latest episode of the Fiction Science podcast, Ignatius delves into the potential national-security threats posed by satellite-based warfare — and how he wove those threats into the plot threads of a new novel titled “Phantom Orbit.” The tale lays out a scenario in which Space War I tips toward a potentially catastrophic Space War II.

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GeekWire

Space Force gives a boost to Blue Origin and Stoke Space

Illustrations: Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket and Stoke Space's Nova rocket
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket and Stoke Space’s Nova rocket. (Blue Origin / Stoke Space Illustrations)

The U.S. Space Force has added Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture and Stoke Space, a startup that’s headquartered nearby in Kent, Wash., to a list of eligible providers for rapid-response, small-satellite launch services.

The designation means the two rocket companies are cleared to compete for launches under the terms of the Space Force’s Orbital Services Program 4.

“OSP-4 is available to our partners across the DoD [Department of Defense] with an emphasis on small orbital launch capabilities and launch solutions for Tactically Responsive Space mission needs,” Lt. Col. Steve Hendershot, chief of the Space Systems Command’s Small Launch and Targets Division, said in a news release.

The OSP-4 contract has a $986 million ceiling for tasks to be awarded through October 2028. Seven missions have been awarded to date, amounting to more than $190 million. Last year’s Victus Nox mission, conducted in partnership with Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems, serves as an example of an OSP-4 project. Victus Nox was aimed at testing the Space Force’s ability to replace a damaged satellite in a short time frame.

Neither Blue Origin nor Stoke Space has launched an orbital mission yet, but the OSP-4 program is open to emerging providers that expect to be able to send payloads to orbit within a year or so.

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