NASA Shares SSPICY $15M Mission Details To Inspect And Dispose Of Space Satellites

NASA has a SSPICY take on how to enable commercial inspection of defunct, or inoperable, satellites in low Earth orbit. The Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission will be a precursor to capturing and repairing, or removing, the satellites.

With more satellites going up into low Earth orbit than ever before, the issue of space debris has been a hot topic among many in the space community. Last year, the European Space Agency announced it had purchased ClearSpace-1, part of the first-ever mission to remove existing space debris from orbit through a highly precise and close proximity operation, in order to minimize the number of fragmentation events created from space debris. Not long after, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Dish Network with the first ever space junk fine. Now, NASA is putting its hat in the space junk ring after awarding Starfish Space of Seattle, Washington, a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research contract to complete the SSPICY mission.

“The SSPICY mission is designed to mature technologies needed for U.S. commercial capabilities for satellite servicing and logistics or disposal,” explained Bo Naasz, senior technical lead for in-space servicing, manufacturing, and assembly in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “In-space inspection helps us characterize the physical state of a satellite, gather data on what may leave spacecraft stranded, and improve our understanding of fragmentations and collisions, a difficult but critical factor in a sustainable space operating environment.”

The space agency added the ability to inspect defunct spacecraft and identify opportunities for repair or deorbiting is critical to maintaining a safe orbital environment for spacecraft and humans. It is also a key component of the agency’s Space Sustainability Strategy, which states NASA is committed to develop an integrated agency wide strategy to measure and assess space sustainability for Earth, Earth orbit, the cislunar space, and deep space.

The SSPICY mission will use the Otter spacecraft, a small satellite about the size of an oven, which is designed to inspect, dock with, and service or deorbit other satellites. The Otter spacecraft’s electric propulsion system helps it efficiently travel to multiple satellites, as well as helping mature the use of electric propulsion for rendezvousing and proximity operations in space which it is not typically used for.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with NASA, building on our shared commitment to advancing in-space manufacturing and assembly capabilities,” remarked Trevor Bennett, co-founder of Starfish Space. “It’s an honor for Starfish to lead the first commercial debris inspection mission funded by NASA. We look forward to collaborating on this and future satellite servicing missions to enable a new paradigm for humanity in space.”

According to NASA, Otter will visit and inspect multiple US owned defunct satellites that have agreed to be visited and inspected. The spacecraft will approach within hundreds of meters of each satellite to conduct inspections during mission operations, while gathering key information about each of the debris objects, including their spin rate, spin axes, and current conditions of the object’s surface materials.

SSPICY is the first commercial space debris inspection funded by NASA. The Otter spacecraft is expected to launch in late 2026, and will begin performing inspections in 2027.