A Satellite Built to Inspect Dead Spacecraft Is Lost, Silenced by Its Own Safety Software
NASA said Nov. 3, 2026, that it and Starfish Space have concluded their SSPICY satellite cannot be recovered. Troubleshooting and analysis by both organizations found an issue with the spacecraft's fault protection system, the onboard software that detects and responds to problems. That system is keeping the radio erroneously switched off.
The spacecraft was built to navigate toward and inspect inoperable space objects of U.S. origin in low Earth orbit while testing propulsion, guidance and navigation technologies, and an articulating robotic boom. Its objective was to speed up industry work on servicing, assembling and manufacturing hardware in orbit, and to collect data for NASA on what orbital debris is like.
The satellite, a Starfish Space spacecraft called Otter, launched Oct. 1, 2026. Starfish established contact with it and then lost that contact during commissioning, the phase after launch when systems are turned on and instruments calibrated, and has not been able to reestablish two-way communication.
NASA said the mission was the first launch and deployment of the Otter spacecraft, and the first time the company's navigation and propulsion technologies were combined into a single spacecraft system.
According to NASA, Starfish intends to keep gathering performance data on those technologies for the agency, along with orbital debris inspection data in low Earth orbit, during future Otter missions. The mission is funded by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), and the agency's support is managed at its Ames Research Center in California.
