Washington-based Starfish Space Inc. announced that it has received a Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract worth $1.8M from AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force.
The funds are meant to support the continued development of Starfish’s CEPHALOPOD software for satellite guidance, navigation, and control (GNC), building on previous collaborations between Starfish and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
CEPHALOPOD enables autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD) using solely electric propulsion.[1]
The software combines advanced computing techniques with novel relative motion algorithms to autonomously guide satellite maneuvers for docking with other objects in space.
By combining CEPHALOPOD with other core Starfish technologies and electric propulsion thrusters on its Otter servicing vehicle, Starfish can dramatically reduce the cost of satellite servicing missions across orbits.
Starfish launched the Otter Pup demonstration mission in June 2023 to serve as an on-orbit testbed for CEPHALOPOD and other core Starfish technologies.
Starfish Space, a startup created by former Blue Origin and NASA engineers, is developing the Otter service vehicle to extend the lives of satellites in geostationary orbit and remove space trash from low-Earth orbit.
In parallel to the Otter Pup mission, the TACFI award will enable substantial enhancements to CEPHALOPOD, allowing it to reach a technical maturity and readiness to conduct servicing missions at scale for commercial and government customers.
“We are excited to continue our collaboration with AFRL through this TACFI effort. CEPHALOPOD can serve as a key technology enabling future servicing missions to benefit satellite operators, and we have found the AFRL team to be great partners in supporting its development,” said the Co-Founder of Starfish Space, Austin Link.
Starfish has won accolades from NSIC, NASA, the United States Space Force, and the Air Force Research Laboratory for its breakthroughs in satellite maintenance technologies.
The startup has received more than $22 million in venture capital funding to date.
References
- Starfish Space, ‘Starfish Space Awarded TACFI Contract to Further Advance CEPHALOPOD Satellite Guidance Software’, 8 August 2023, https://www.starfishspace.com/post/starfish-space-awarded-tacfi-contract-to-further-advance-cephalopod-satellite-guidance-software.[↩]
