NASA and Starfish Space write off Otter after a fault protection issue left its radio off

NASA and Starfish Space have concluded that Otter, the spacecraft flying NASA's SSPICY orbital inspection mission, cannot be recovered, because a problem in its fault protection system keeps its radio switched off by mistake. NASA announced the outcome on November 3, 2026, about a month after the October 1 launch.

The spacecraft made initial contact after launch but lost it during commissioning, and two-way communication never came back.

A safety system that silenced the radio

Fault protection is the part of a spacecraft's design meant to keep a spacecraft safe when something goes wrong, for example by shutting down or resetting hardware. In Otter's case, NASA and Starfish traced the silence to an issue in that system that leaves the radio erroneously off. With no working link, there is no way to send the commands that might fix it.

NASA's update does not say what triggered the fault or whether the rest of the spacecraft is healthy. It describes SSPICY, short for Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability, as a technology demonstration.

What Otter was supposed to do

NASA picked Starfish, based in Seattle, for the mission in September 2024 with a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research contract worth $15 million over three years. Under that plan, Otter would visit several defunct U.S.-owned satellites in low Earth orbit, only ones whose owners agreed to be inspected, and approach within hundreds of meters of each.

It was meant to record each object's spin rate and spin axes and the state of its surface materials, using electric propulsion to move between targets. NASA's 2024 announcement put the start of inspections in 2027.

This flight was also a first for the company in two ways, according to NASA: the first launch and deployment of an Otter, and the first time Starfish's navigation and propulsion technologies were integrated in one spacecraft. The vehicle also carried an articulating robotic boom.

Not Starfish's first close call

Starfish's earlier, smaller demonstrator, Otter Pup, ran into trouble after its 2023 launch when it began tumbling rapidly, and the company regained control, TechCrunch reported at the time. That vehicle could still be commanded. Otter, with its radio stuck off, cannot.

NASA's statement stayed supportive of the company. "Commercial capabilities like Starfish's are critical for a competitive U.S. space economy," said Greg Stover, director of the Advanced Research and Technology Division at NASA Headquarters, which funded the mission. The Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems program at NASA's Ames Research Center managed it.

NASA did not say whether a replacement inspection flight is planned, and the cost of the lost spacecraft was not disclosed.