Starfish Space brings in new funding as it gears up for orbital inspection and docking

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space is bringing in more funding after announcing several agreements to use its Otter spacecraft for missions ranging from inspecting dead satellites to extending the life of an operational satellite.

Starfish reported that it has raised nearly $21 million of a larger investment round in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday. Investors are not identified.

When contacted by GeekWire, Starfish Space declined to provide further details about the funding round.

Starfish was founded in 2019 by Trevor Bennett and Austin Link, two veterans of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture. Previously reported funding rounds raised $7 million in investment in 2021 and an additional $14 million in 2023.

In the year and a half since that $14 million investment round was completed, Starfish has had a prototype for its Otter satellite servicing spacecraft, known as Otter Pup, sent into low Earth orbit and tested under trying circumstances. The startup has also struck a $37.5 million deal with the U.S. Space Force to execute a first-of-its-kind mission that involves having the full-scale Otter dock with and maneuver national security assets in geostationary Earth orbit.

More recently, Starfish signed a contract with Intelsat to provide on-orbit life extension services to a geostationary satellite beginning in 2026. And last week, NASA said it selected Starfish and Otter for a $15 million mission aimed at inspecting multiple U.S.-owned defunct satellites in orbit, beginning in 2027.