Otter 24C radio fault ends NASA’s $15 million servicing test

NASA’s $15 million SSPICY mission ended after Starfish Space’s first Otter servicing spacecraft, Otter 24C, lost radio contact during commissioning and proved unrecoverable. NASA disclosed the loss on Nov. 3, and Space.com reported on Monday that the failure had ended the technology demonstration.

Otter 24C launched Oct. 1 aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare and made initial contact with the ground. It went silent while systems were switched on and instruments calibrated. Starfish blamed the Astro Digital-supplied satellite bus and its fault-protection software, which detects and responds to problems but erroneously kept the radio switched off.

Starfish said: “Starfish, NASA, and Astro Digital have concluded that Otter 24C is not recoverable.” Ground teams had no working radio link with which to diagnose the vehicle. Like a locked-out telephone line, the fault removed the only channel available for diagnosis. The result was rather final: no radio, no recovery.

What did SSPICY intend to demonstrate?

The Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability mission, known as SSPICY, carried four linked objectives. Together, they connected orbital inspection with machinery and debris data needed for later servicing and deorbit work.

• Navigate to and inspect several inoperable U.S.-origin objects in low Earth orbit.
• Test propulsion, guidance and navigation technology.
• Exercise an articulating robotic boom.
• Collect orbital-debris data for NASA’s future deorbit work.

NASA funded the project through its Advanced Research and Technology Division. Its Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems program at Ames Research Center managed NASA’s support. The mission joined satellite inspection with propulsion tests, robotic operations and debris measurement, so its loss removed several technical validation points at once.

Starfish and NASA said: “Starfish and NASA are exploring opportunities to fulfill mission objectives through other Starfish missions.” The wording remained open: it named no replacement launch, award or schedule, and did not guarantee transfer of every SSPICY objective.

Can Starfish fix the bus fault?

Starfish said it was working with Astro Digital to fix the fault-protection system and update testing for future Otters. The next commercial test is direct: another Otter must show that the corrected protection logic does not disable communications. Until then, the correction remains unverified in orbit.

For Starfish, the problem extends beyond a patch to company-owned hardware. Otter 24C used a bus supplied by Astro Digital and fault-protection logic on that bus, so the fix requires joint work, revised testing and a later flight demonstration before confidence in the platform can return.

That sequence places execution risk on a startup whose larger Otter business supports its order book. Several contracts do not remove the need for a working full-size platform.

The Otter 24C loss was Starfish’s second on-orbit setback traced to third-party hardware. In 2023, its smaller Otter Pup 1 demonstrator was sent spinning by its Launcher host spacecraft, and Starfish recovered it weeks later. Both failures originated outside Starfish’s own hardware, yet each landed on Starfish’s servicing roadmap.

Otter Pup 2, launched in 2025, recently maneuvered to within 33 meters of Gilmour Space’s ElaraSat. That approach supplied recent evidence of proximity operations, but it did not replace the lost full-size Otter or its multi-part SSPICY test.

Which contracts depend on the full-size Otter?

Starfish’s order book depends on the full-size platform. The company holds a $52.5 million Space Development Agency contract, awarded in January, to deorbit satellites. In 2024, it also signed a $37.5 million Space Force deal and an Intelsat life-extension contract for Otter missions to geostationary orbit.

The confirmed awards cover three customers and distinct commercial tasks: satellite deorbit for SDA, a Space Force mission and an Intelsat life-extension effort. The $52.5 million and $37.5 million figures are contract values, not forecasts of future revenue; no value was stated for the Intelsat agreement.

SSPICY was a NASA technology demonstration rather than one of those disclosed commercial commitments. Its loss hit NASA’s validation effort directly, while the three agreements remained separate from that demonstration.

The next Otter flight will therefore carry the commercial burden of proving that corrected third-party bus logic keeps communications intact through commissioning. Until that demonstration succeeds, Starfish’s ability to deliver under its SDA, Space Force and Intelsat agreements depends on a full-size platform whose fault-protection fix remains unverified in orbit.