This Startup Is Building Octopus-Inspired Tow Trucks For Space

Michigan-based KMI Space is developing REACCH, an orbital-servicing spacecraft with flexible appendages and gecko-inspired gripping pads for capturing unprepared objects. The company describes the vehicle as a space tow truck able to reposition active satellites or drive debris into the atmosphere for disposal. A smaller REACCH system reached the International Space Station in 2024 and completed hundreds of microgravity capture tests over roughly 200 days in 2025, validating the company's simulation tools. KMI has raised more than $10 million and targets a full-scale launch in early 2028, followed by in-orbit capture demonstrations later that year.