Small satellite mission targets maritime activity monitoring from orbit

The OTTER Optical Traffic Tracking Experiment for Responsive Space satellite has entered service in orbit to support maritime monitoring following its launch on 28 November 2025 into an orbit at about 500 kilometres altitude. The nanosatellite has a mass of roughly six kilograms, is comparable in size to a shoebox and deployed its solar panels and instruments after separation from the launcher. The German Aerospace Center DLR leads the OTTER mission with industry partners as an experimental effort to determine how small satellites can help deliver space based capabilities more quickly and supplement existing maritime reconnaissance systems.

OTTER uses one antenna to receive position signals from ships while its onboa

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