Insider Brief:
- Starfish Space has been awarded a US $1.8 million Tactical Funding Increase contract from AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force.
- This award will support continued development of Starfish’s CEPHALOPOD software for satellite guidance, navigation, and control.
- CEPHALOPOD is a first-of-its-kind product enabling autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations and docking (RPOD) using solely electric propulsion.
PRESS RELEASE — Seattle, Washington / August 8, 2023 — Starfish Space Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a $1.8M Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract from AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force. This award will support 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 is a first-of-its-kind product enabling autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations and docking (RPOD) using solely electric propulsion. CEPHALOPOD 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 is able to dramatically reduce the cost of satellite servicing missions across orbits.
Starfish’s Otter Pup demonstration mission, launched in June 2023, aims to serve as an on-orbit testbed for CEPHALOPOD and other core Starfish technologies. 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,” said Austin Link, Co-Founder of Starfish Space. “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.”
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.
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Contact Information:
Ari Juster
+1 (402) 707-6660
SOURCE: Starfish Space
Featured image: Starfish is developing its CEPHALOPOD software to enable autonomous satellite docking. Credit: Starfish Space
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