Plan to Deorbit Old Satellites Gains Steam with New Deals

The Space Force wants contractors to sweep decommissioned satellites out of orbit when their useful lives are over, and it’s signed up three companies to advance its Deorbit-as-a-Service project: Firefly Aerospace, Katalyst Space, and D-Orbit.

The Space Development Agency and the Defense Innovation Unit announced the contracts for this growing niche market Aug. 14. Historically, satellite operators would fly spacecraft into “graveyard orbits” where they wouldn’t cause any harm before they ran completely out of fuel.

Satellites could remain in those dead orbits for decades or even centuries before Earth’s gravity would eventually draw them into the atmosphere, a process known as orbital decay. But with satellite constellations growing to include tens of thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit, new solutions are needed. Experts worry about collisions, given how long debris can remain in orbit, circling the globe at 14,000 miles per hour.

Deorbiting services would solve the problem, grappling or docking with a satellite when its service life is over, then pulling it down into a lower orbit where it would more rapidly descend and then burn up in the atmosphere. The deorbiter would then return to a higher orbit and seek out its next target.

The Space Development Agency has explored the topic for several years, recognizing that its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture with some 450 satellites in low-Earth orbit would need to be refreshed over time. SDA tapped six companies in 2024 for feasibility studies, then signed one, Starfish Space, to a $52.5 million proof-of-concept deal in January 2026. Starfish plans to launch its Otter spacecraft for that mission in 2027, and the contract has options for more missions to follow.

In this new deal, SDA and DIU are expanding the scope of the effort; none of the three firms signed to new deals were involved in previous deorbiting awards.

DIU said in a social media post that the Pentagon sees the deorbiting mission as a service it will buy, rather than execute on its own. A managed service, it said, would provide “the government flexible, on-demand access to orbital logistics without the cost and schedule of owning and operating the mission spacecraft.”

After the three companies proceed through preliminary designs and risk-reduction activities, SDA and DIU will pick one for a “full on-orbit demonstration.”

Firefly said its contract will fund a preliminary design review for its Elytra spacecraft to exectute a future deorbiting mission. It said the spacecraft, which is capable of other missions as well, has the “high-thrust maneuverability, ample fuel reserves, and payload capacity” needed for deorbiting work.

Katalyst, which is currently conducting a satellite servicing mission for NASA, aiming to boost the orbit of a NASA observatory to extend its service life.

D-Orbit, announcing its $24 million contract with SDA and DIU, said it will partner with TransAstra and Falcon Exodynamics to will “demonstrate LEO logistics as a managed service for the U.S. government.” If successful, the company said, demonstrating rendezvous, docking, and maneuver with clear the way for D-Orbit Space to offer other logistics support, such as refueling, repairing, inspecting, and re-positioning satellites.