Starfish Space, a Seattle-based startup, lost contact with its Otter 24C satellite on November 3, 2026, just one month after launch.
The mission was part of a NASA test to show off new tech for cleaning up space junk and helping other satellites in orbit, but things hit a snag when fault protection on the satellite bus provided by Astro Digital malfunctioned and turned off the radio, preventing re-establishing communications.
Because of the glitch, Otter 24C couldn't carry out NASA's SSPICY mission to try out debris removal and in-orbit servicing.
Starfish Space says it is taking this setback as a learning moment and is already working on new projects.
Its Otter Pup 2 prototype recently got impressively close to another satellite, just 25 meters away, which is a big step toward making docking in space more routine in the future.
