The best debris removal & servicing space startups
10 debris removal & servicing companies in the directory, ranked by disclosed funding ($366.9M raised between them), spanning 4 countries.
Orbit is getting crowded. These startups extend satellite lifetimes, refuel spacecraft, and clean up the debris that threatens everything else in this directory.
Updated 1 October 2026 · 11 milestones in the last 90 days · Follow by RSS
State of the sector
As of 27 September 2026
Servicing means working on satellites that are already in orbit: inspecting them, refuelling them, moving them or bringing them down. Astroscale and ClearSpace started with debris removal. Starfish Space and Katalyst Space build servicers that dock with satellites. Orbit Fab and OrbitAID want to refuel them, and Orbital Lasers uses lasers to stop debris from tumbling.
Two Indian companies are working on it too. InspeCity plans four servicing missions within 18 months, and OrbitAID plans a docking and refuelling demonstration for early 2027. Katalyst Space launched its first servicer, LINK, in July 2026. After two of its reaction wheels failed, the planned boost of NASA's Swift telescope was dropped, and LINK re-entered the atmosphere in September.
Most of the big demonstrations are due in 2027. ESA and ClearSpace plan PRELUDE, a two-spacecraft servicing mission. Orbit Fab expects to launch its first integrated refuelling system, and Katalyst Space's NEXUS will fly to geostationary orbit on an Ariane 6. Astroscale booked ADRAS-J2, which will try to capture a three-tonne rocket stage, on an Isar Spectrum for 2027 or 2028.
Latest milestones
Every dated event from the companies below, newest first, each with its source.
Starfish Space: Its first full-size Otter launches on SpaceX's Transporter-18 for NASA's SSPICY inspection mission
Katalyst Space: LINK exercises its xenon thrusters and three robotic arms as a demonstration, then re-enters the atmosphere after NASA ends its part in the mission
ClearSpace: Signs an ESA contract for the next phase of Phoenix, its GEO life-extension servicerKatalyst Space: Selected by the Pentagon's Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund to build and fly ASGARD, a robotic spacecraft that assembles a power-beaming system in orbit
Astroscale: Astroscale France joins an Exotrail-led France 2030 mission, to be contracted by CNES, to deorbit a Eutelsat OneWeb satellite in 2029-2030Astroscale: Books ADRAS-J2, the JAXA mission to capture a three-tonne rocket stage, on Isar Aerospace's Spectrum for 2027 or 2028
Orbital Lasers: Invests in LogistLab, a maker of large precision mirrors, and partners with it on spaceborne telescope production
InspeCity: Raises a ₹100 crore (about $10.5M) pre-Series A led by Speciale Invest and Ashish Kacholia to fly four servicing missions in 18 months
OrbitAID: Plans a two-satellite mission for early 2027 to inspect, dock, refuel and raise orbit in one flightKatalyst Space: After two of LINK's three reaction wheels fail, NASA and Katalyst drop the Swift capture and fly the mission as a rendezvous demonstrationShow 40 earlier milestones
Katalyst Space: Chosen by the Defense Innovation Unit to develop a deorbit service for Space Development Agency satellites using NEXUS
Orbit Fab: Names Peter Shaper CEO, opens its Series B and takes more than $25M of interim financing led by Stride Capital; its first integrated refuelling architecture is due to launch in 2027Katalyst Space: LINK, its first robotic servicing spacecraft, launches on a Pegasus XL from KwajaleinKatalyst Space: Raises $12M led by Geodesic Capital toward NEXUS, its first geostationary servicing mission in 2027Starfish Space: Otter Pup 2 reaches its new docking target and keeps flying close to itStarfish Space: Closes a Series B of more than $100M led by Point72 Ventures to build Otters for its contracted missionsAstroscale: ADRAS-J completes its operations and begins its deorbitKatalyst Space: Books an Ariane 6 launch to geostationary orbit for its first commercial servicing missionOrbital Lasers: Raises ¥3.02B (about $20M) in a Series AOrbit Fab: Founding CEO Daniel Faber hands over leadership as the company opens a $20M Series BOrbit Fab: Podracer, a rendezvous demonstration for the Air Force Research Laboratory, launches on Momentus's Vigoride-7 aboard Transporter-16Orbit Fab: Selected by NASA to develop a coolant fluid coupling for the Lunar Gateway's thermal control systemStarfish Space: Space Systems Command orders a second Otter for Space Force work in geosynchronous orbit, due for delivery in 2028ClearSpace: ESA and ClearSpace start PRELUDE, a two-spacecraft servicing and debris-removal demonstration targeting launch in 2027Starfish Space: Awarded $52.5M by the US Space Force for proliferated LEO deorbit servicesStarfish Space: In the Remora mission its camera and guidance software steer an Impulse Space Mira, on their own, to within about 1,250 m of another MiraOrbital Lasers: Wins a ¥2.054B Japanese Ministry of Defense contract for research on space laser ranging, running to March 2028Orbit Fab: Wins ESA and UK Space Agency funding to lead ASTRAL, an in-orbit refuelling experiment due by 2028OrbitAID: Wins an Indo-Australian MAITRI grant to fly India's first in-orbit refuelling interfaceKatalyst Space: NASA awards a Phase III SBIR contract to design a rescue mission for the Swift observatory, to launch within ten monthsStarfish Space: Otter Pup 2 launches on Transporter-14 for a docking demonstrationKatalyst Space: Wins US Space Command's Sustained Space Maneuver Challenge and a $1.9M contractInspeCity: Raises a $5.6M seed led by Ashish Kacholia to space-qualify its servicing hardware within a yearOrbitAID: Zero-G2 repeats the docking test with autonomous mechanisms and camera-based pose estimationStarfish Space: Unveils Otter Pup 2, a Transporter-14 mission to attempt the first commercial satellite docking in LEOKatalyst Space: Acquires Atomos Space, taking on its Quark spacecraft, Broomfield factory and teamOrbitAID: Raises a $1.5M pre-seed led by Unicorn India Ventures for an in-space docking and refuelling demonstrationAstroscale: ADRAS-J closes to 15 metres of the rocket body, the closest commercial approach to space debrisOrbitAID: Zero-G1, a parabolic flight in Florida, tests SIDRP docking and propellant transfer in weightlessnessClearSpace: UK Space Agency awards £2.35M to accelerate the CLEAR debris removal missionAstroscale: Lists on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth MarketStarfish Space: Selected by the US Space Force to conduct on-orbit docking and manoeuvre with national security assetsClearSpace: ESA and ClearSpace retarget the mission from the damaged adapter to the PROBA-1 satelliteStarfish Space: First Otter Pup flies within a kilometre of D-Orbit’s ION and images it, completing a commercial rendezvousAstroscale: ADRAS-J launches on Electron to inspect a discarded H-2A upper stage, the first commercial rendezvous with unprepared debrisAstroscale: ELSA-d completes its de-orbit operations, closing the debris-removal demonstrationNew in debris removal & servicing
All 10 debris removal & servicing companies
Ranked by disclosed funding.
Starfish Space Satellite servicing with Otter
Astroscale GraduatedSpace debris removal
GITAIRobots for work in space
InspeCity In-orbit servicing from Thane, India
Altius Space AcquiredDeveloping rendezvous and capture technology
ClearSpace Removing defunct satellites
Katalyst Space Robotic spacecraft that dock with satellites
Orbit Fab Gas stations in space
OrbitAID Refuelling satellites in orbit, from Chennai
Orbital Lasers Lasers for debris removal
How many debris removal & servicing space startups are there in 2026?
Space Bandits tracks 10 debris removal & servicing companies, 8 of them active, with $366.9M in disclosed funding between them.
What is the latest news from debris removal & servicing startups?
The most recent milestone on record is from Starfish Space, dated 1 October 2026: "Its first full-size Otter launches on SpaceX's Transporter-18 for NASA's SSPICY inspection mission."
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