内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2025/starfish-impulse-space-remora-rendezvous/

内容总结：

美国两家商业航天公司成功完成在轨交会对接技术验证

近日，美国华盛顿州图克维拉的Starfish Space公司与加利福尼亚州的Impulse Space公司联合宣布，双方成功完成了一项名为“Remora”（意为䲟鱼）的在轨卫星交会技术演示任务。此次演示验证了Starfish的自主导航与控制系统可在其他公司的卫星平台上运行，实现航天器在轨自主接近操作。

本次演示任务被附加在Impulse Space于今年1月发射的“LEO Express 2”任务中。在卫星完成主要载荷部署后，任务团队花费数周时间，让搭载了Starfish“Cetacean”和“Cephalopod”软件的“Mira”航天器，自主接近另一颗用于此前任务的“Mira”航天器。

在接近过程中，双方距离从约100公里缩短至约1200米。Starfish的软件系统通过处理由合作方TRL11提供的轻型相机所拍摄的图像，实时估算相对位置，并计算最优轨道轨迹，进而指令“Mira”航天器的推进器点火调整。整个接近、拍摄照片及自主撤离过程均无需地面操作员指令干预。

Starfish联合创始人特雷弗·贝内特表示，此次成功演示证明，航天器无需专门为交会对接（RPO）任务进行设计，可以在完成其核心任务的同时，通过加载先进软件系统来获得高精度自主交会能力。这有望降低该技术在航天产业中普及的门槛。

Impulse Space总裁兼首席运营官埃里克·罗莫指出，此次任务也向潜在客户证明了其“Mira”航天器所采用的大推力化学推进系统，在具备快速机动能力的同时，同样能满足近距离交会操作所需的高精度与控制性要求，实现了速度与精度的兼得。

两家公司均表示将寻求未来进一步的合作机会，旨在将这项技术从演示验证转化为可日常依赖的常态化能力。目前，两家公司各自业务进展顺利：Starfish正在推进其具备在轨服务能力的“Otter”航天器项目，并已为NASA、美国太空军等客户规划了任务；Impulse Space则已发射第三颗“Mira”航天器，并计划于2026年与合作伙伴在地球同步轨道开展高精度交会任务，远期目标包括向月球投送中型有效载荷。

中文翻译：

总部位于华盛顿州塔克维拉的Starfish Space公司与总部位于加州的Impulse Space公司宣布，双方已成功完成一项在轨卫星交会演示任务。该任务将Impulse公司"米拉"航天器的控制权移交至Starfish的制导导航系统。

这项代号"䲟鱼"的演示任务，其命名灵感来源于吸附在其他海洋生物体表的䲟鱼。䲟鱼行动被增补至"米拉"航天器的任务清单，作为Impulse公司今年1月发射的"近地轨道特快2号"任务组成部分。两家公司待"米拉"航天器完成"近地轨道特快2号"主要卫星部署任务后，耗费数周时间监测䲟鱼行动的机动过程。

"约一个月前我们完成了关键步骤，"Starfish联合创始人特雷弗·贝内特向GeekWire透露，"此后我们持续接收数据以掌握全貌，而最终呈现的结果令人惊叹。"此次演示任务直至今日才公之于众，主要因双方公司需确保演示完全按计划实施。"我们从未保证必然获得成果，"贝内特解释道，"因此希望在有实质性进展时再进行公布。"

贝内特指出，此次演示证明Starfish的制导、导航与控制软件套件可适配其他公司卫星，实现轨道航天器的自主抵近操作。"䲟鱼行动无疑是我们首次实现全新航天器平台全程自主执行完整任务，"他表示，"从本质上说，航天器在无需操作员指令的情况下自主飞行至1200米距离，完成多角度拍摄后自主撤离至更远空域。"

在发射前，"近地轨道特快2号"任务的"米拉"航天器已加装搭载Starfish"鲸类"与"头足类"软件的辅助飞行计算机。演示期间，该航天器运用Starfish制导系统及TRL11提供的轻型摄像系统，逐步接近曾执行"近地轨道特快1号"任务的另一艘"米拉"航天器。

当距离从约100公里缩减至1200米时，Starfish软件通过处理摄像数据生成相对位置估算值，随后计算最优轨道轨迹并指令"米拉"推进器实施相应点火操作。Starfish正在自主研发名为"水獭"的航天器，该航天器将具备抵近对接轨道目标的能力，以执行巡检、轨道维护或清除太空碎片等任务。贝内特认为䲟鱼任务的成功可能开拓不依赖"水獭"系统的新市场机遇。

"我们试图证明航天器无需专为交会对接任务设计，"贝内特强调，"完全可以在满足核心任务需求的同时兼顾此项功能……我们正致力于降低行业应用交会对接技术的门槛。"Impulse公司总裁兼首席运营官埃里克·罗莫表示，䲟鱼行动同样为其公司带来增益。

"我们的'米拉'航天器采用大推力化学推进系统，这意味着我们擅长在太空两点间快速机动，"他向GeekWire说明。但罗莫坦言部分潜在客户曾质疑大推力系统在邻近航天器操作时能否保持所需精度。对此，䲟鱼任务证明速度与精度可兼得，且"米拉"系统完全具备执行此类抵近操作所需的指令响应与控制能力。

贝内特与罗莫均表示双方将寻求未来合作机遇。"对我们而言，发展方向是将这项技术从单纯演示转化为可依赖的常态化能力，"贝内特说，"我们非常荣幸能与Impulse达成合作，相信未来存在大量合作机会。"目前两家公司均忙于其他项目：Starfish正在执行今年6月发射的"幼獭2号"测试任务，并已为NASA、美国太空军及收购了国际通信卫星公司的SES卫星公司规划2026-2027年间的三次完整版"水獭"任务。

Impulse公司的第三艘"米拉"航天器上月已发射升空，将执行"近地轨道特快3号"任务的有效载荷部署与承载工作。展望未来，Impulse正与安德瑞尔公司合作推进2026年地球同步轨道高精度交会对接任务，并已制定中型载荷月球输送的长期路线图。

英文来源：

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space and California-based Impulse Space say they’ve successfully demonstrated an in-space satellite rendezvous during a mission that handed over control of an Impulse Mira spacecraft to Starfish’s guidance and navigation system.
The demonstration was code-named Remora, in honor of a fish that attaches itself to other marine animals. Operation Remora was added to Mira’s agenda for Impulse Space’s LEO Express 2 mission, which was launched in January. Impulse and Starfish waited until the Mira spacecraft completed its primary satellite deployment tasks for LEO Express 2. Then they spent several weeks monitoring the maneuvers for Remora.
“About a month ago, we concluded the major steps here,” Starfish co-founder Trevor Bennett told GeekWire. “Since then, we’ve been getting data down and understanding the full story. And the full story is incredible.”
Remora was kept under wraps until today, primarily because both companies wanted to make sure that the demonstration actually worked as planned. “There was never a guarantee that there would be an outcome here,” Bennett explained. “And so what we wanted to do is talk about it when there was something to talk about.”
Bennett said the demonstration showed that Starfish’s software suite for guidance, navigation and control could be used on a different company’s satellite to make an autonomous approach to another spacecraft in orbit.
“Remora became definitely a first for us, in terms of being able to allow a whole new vehicle platform to autonomously do this full mission, all the way in and through,” he said. “Basically, we had no operator commands necessary for the vehicle to fly itself all the way down to 1,200 meters, take a bunch of pictures and then autonomously egress back out to further distances.”
Before launch, the LEO Express 2 Mira was equipped with a peripheral flight computer that was loaded with Starfish’s Cetacean and Cephalopod software. During the Remora mission, that Mira spacecraft used Starfish’s guidance system and a single lightweight camera system supplied by TRL11 to close in on a different Mira that had been used for Impulse Space’s LEO Express 1 mission.
As the distance decreased from about 100 kilometers (62 miles) to roughly 1,200 meters (three-quarters of a mile), Starfish’s software processed the camera imagery to generate estimates of relative position. Then it computed optimal orbital trajectories and commanded Mira’s thrusters to fire accordingly.
Starfish is working on an in-house spacecraft called Otter that will be capable of approaching and docking with other objects in orbit to conduct inspections, perform orbital servicing or get rid of space debris. Bennett said the success of the Remora mission could open up new market opportunities that don’t depend on Otter.
“What we’re trying to show is that you don’t have to design a vehicle just for RPO [rendezvous and proximity operations] and docking,” Bennett said. “You can design the vehicle for the core mission that it needs to do in addition to that. … What we’re trying to do is remove this high barrier to having RPO and docking be a mainstay in our industry.”
Eric Romo, president and chief operating officer of Impulse Space, said Remora was a plus for his company as well.
“Our Mira spacecraft uses high-thrust chemical propulsion, and what that means is, we’re typically pretty good at moving really quickly between two points in space,” he told GeekWire. But Romo said some potential customers have wondered whether Mira’s high-thrust system had the precision and accuracy that would be required when operating near another spacecraft.
For those customers, the Remora mission showed that there’s no trade-off between speed and accuracy, and that Mira “has the commandability and the controllability you need to do this type of proximity operation,” Romo said.
Bennett and Romo both said their companies would look at future opportunities for collaboration. “For us, the path forward is to pull it away from just a pure demonstration mission to a truly day-to-day capability that we rely on and build on,” Bennett said. “We’re very fortunate that Impulse was our partner up to this point, and I think there are plenty of opportunities for us to be partners going forward.”
In the meantime, both companies are busy with other projects. Starfish Space is in the midst of an Otter Pup 2 test mission that was launched in June — and the company has its first three full-scale Otter missions lined up for NASA, the U.S. Space Force and the SES satellite company (which acquired Intelsat) in the 2026-2027 time frame.
Impulse Space’s third Mira spacecraft was launched last month to deploy and host payloads for the LEO Express 3 mission. Looking ahead, Impulse is pursuing a partnership with Anduril to conduct a high-precision rendezvous and proximity operations mission in geosynchronous Earth orbit in 2026. And looking even further ahead, the company has laid out a roadmap for sending medium-sized payloads to the moon.