SSPICY — Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability¶
Pattern: NASA SST funded 4 parallel ~$200K concept studies in fall 2023 → downselected 1 winner for Phase III flight in 2024.
Last updated: 2026-04-14 (session 27)
The four 2023 concept studies¶
All four projects share identical description text from SST program office about orbital-debris inspection.
| projectId | Company | Period | TRL | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 155352 | Starfish Space, Inc. | 2023-08-25 → 2023-11-27 | 3 → 4 | Won — Advanced_To 182206 |
| 155353 | Turion Space Corp. | 2023-08-31 → 2023-11-29 | 3 → 4 | Did not proceed; grew via DoD SDA contracts ($32.6M USSF) |
| 155357 | Vast Space | 2023-09-01 → 2023-12-31 | 3 → 4 | Did not proceed; focused on Haven space stations ($1B+ funded) |
| 155358 | Kayhan Space Corp | 2023-08-31 → 2023-12-13 | 3 → 4 | Did not proceed; focused on STM/Pathfinder software ($12M raised) |
The flight — 182206¶
Starfish Space, Aug 2024 → Jun 2027, TRL 5 → 9. NASA Phase III SBIR 80NSSC24CA187, $12.00M (USASpending). Platform: Otter spacecraft. See Starfish Space org page.
Significance¶
This is the cleanest study→flight transition seen so far in the SST portfolio — explicit TechPort Advanced_To/Advanced_From outcome link, matching USASpending Phase III contract, public NASA press release. It is a template for how SST operates: parallel cheap concept studies to de-risk a downselect, followed by a targeted Phase III flight contract.
What happened to the 3 non-winners? (Session 2 — confirmed)¶
All three companies continued growing independently of the SSPICY outcome:
Turion Space — Most successful non-winner. Launched DROID.001 (Jun 2023) and DROID.002 (Mar 2025). Won $32.6M Space Force contract (Dec 2024) for 3 SDA satellites. Raised $20M Series A (Dec 2024). Also has MDA SHIELD work. The SSPICY loss didn't slow them — DoD demand for SDA drove their growth. ~$26M in federal awards total.
Vast Space — $1B+ funded space station company. Haven-1 launching Q1 2027. Selected for NASA PAM-6. $500M funding round (Mar 2026). SSPICY was a $200K side project; Vast's trajectory is entirely driven by private capital and the CLD market. Minimal SST relevance.
Kayhan Space — Software/STM company. Launched Satcat platform (Feb 2025). Selected by NOAA for TraCSS Pathfinder. Raised $12M total. Interesting people-chain: PI Siamak Hesar previously worked on SST-funded X-NAV at Blue Canyon Technologies (106811). $2.3M in federal awards total.
Cross-cutting observation¶
The SSPICY downselect shows SST casting a wide net across company types: a dedicated RPOD company (Starfish), an SDA hardware builder (Turion), a space station venture (Vast), and a software company (Kayhan). Only Starfish's core business aligned tightly with the SSPICY mission profile. The non-winners all thrived via non-SST pathways — the competition may have provided visibility/credibility, but the SST program was not a make-or-break gate for any of them.
Session 27 update — Starfish's explosive growth¶
Starfish Space is now the fastest-scaling company in the SST portfolio. Since winning the SSPICY flight in 2024: - Federal contracts grew from ~$52.8M to $159M+ — driven by $54.5M Space Force APFIT (Feb 2026, GEO servicing) and $52.5M SDA PWSA deorbit (Jan 2026, first LEO constellation disposal) - Raised $100M+ Series B (Point72 Ventures, Activate Capital, Shield Capital), total VC now $150M+ - 7 contracted missions: Otter Pup 2 (flying), SSPICY (NET late 2026), Intelsat GEO life extension, USAF STRATFI, SDA deorbit, Space Force APFIT, SES - Total funding (federal + VC): ~$310M+
The SSPICY win appears to have been a credibility inflection point: the NASA anchor validated Starfish's technology for DoD acquisition officers, triggering a dual-use flywheel where each contract accelerates the next. DoD contracts now dwarf NASA funding ~10:1. See Starfish Space org page.