Satellite servicing startup Starfish taps Quindar for mission operations software

WASHINGTON — Quindar, a startup that provides mission management software for satellite operators, has been selected by satellite servicing company Starfish Space to support the first three missions of its Otter spacecraft.

Under an agreement announced Feb. 5, Quindar will provide software to manage and automate operations for Starfish’s initial Otter missions, which are expected to begin launching this year. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Based in Denver, Quindar offers a cloud-hosted platform that allows satellite operators to track spacecraft, send commands and automate routine ground operations. The company positions its software as an alternative to traditional, custom-built mission control systems that operators typically develop in-house and maintain over the life of a program.

Starfish Space, based in Kent, Washington, builds a spacecraft called Otter designed to perform rendezvous and proximity operations, or RPO, with client satellites. RPO refers to the ability of one spacecraft to safely approach and maneuver near another in orbit, a capability that underpins emerging services such as life extension, inspection and end-of-life disposal. Starfish aims to use Otter to dock with satellites and provide in-orbit servicing, including extending operational lifetimes or assisting with deorbiting.

Austin Link, co-founder of Starfish Space, said Quindar’s software supports “the execution of complex missions in orbit, and we look forward to continuing our work with them as we launch the first Otter missions starting this year.”

Mission management software has taken on greater importance as satellite operators deploy more spacecraft and pursue more complex missions, said Nate Hamet, co-founder and chief executive of Quindar. Rather than relying on bespoke systems tailored to a single satellite, some operators are turning to commercial platforms that can scale across fleets and integrate with outsourced ground infrastructure.

He said Quindar aims to reduce the cost and complexity of ground operations by offering mission management as a service, eliminating the need to build and maintain bespoke mission control software or stand up a dedicated in-house team.

Integration with commercial ground stations

Quindar’s platform also automates routine but labor-intensive tasks such as reserving antenna time from commercial ground-station-as-a-service providers, allowing operators to rely more heavily on shared infrastructure rather than owning ground assets.

Founded in 2022 by former engineers from OneWeb, Quindar has attracted new investors and recently closed a Series A funding round. The company says it is seeing demand not only from commercial satellite operators but also from government-owned constellations that are commercially operated.

Rather than building custom ground systems for each mission, Hamet said operators can run multiple programs on a unified, secure, cloud-native platform.

“Our competitors are actually the companies that are building the software stack in house,” he said. “What they traditionally do is they take commercial off the shelf, open source products, and create middleware to bring it all together.”

By contrast, Quindar offers “end to end workflows,” Hamet said, including direct integration with major antenna providers worldwide and with commonly used flight software that many satellite manufacturers already buy off the shelf.