The debris you can’t see is the one most likely to end a mission

A fragment the size of a grain of rice can end a satellite mission. Odin is the only company providing solutions to this threat.

Los Angeles, Calif., May 5, 2026 Odin Space, the company delivering end-to-end intelligence on lethal, non-trackable orbital debris, has opened a new office in the Los Angeles area, establishing a presence in one of the United States leading aerospace and defense hubs. The expansion follows growing demand from U.S. commercial operators and government customers and reflects the need for a U.S.-based presence to support mission-critical requirements around security, attribution, and operational integration. Odin has signed its first U.S. customer, Arkisys, for their Nano Sensor + Insurance product line, and is in active commercial discussions with further U.S. operators on both Nano Sensors and Outpost deployments. The new office complements Odin's existing UK operations.

More than 140 million fragments larger than a millimeter are estimated to be in orbit. At orbital velocity, a piece the size of a grain of rice carries enough energy to punch straight through a satellite. None of this debris is tracked by ground-based sensors, which cannot resolve objects smaller than ten centimeters. When a satellite fails in orbit, its operator usually has no way of knowing whether it was struck, what struck it, or where the impact came from. Sub-centimeter detection is what turns a silent failure into usable evidence.

"Sub-centimeter debris has moved to the front of the mission risk conversation" said James New, CEO and co-founder of Odin Space. "Operators have been flying blind for years. They have no baseline for the debris environment, no way to know when their spacecraft has been struck, no way to attribute a failure caused by debris, and no affordable way to insure against this growing risk. Nano Sensors act as the “black box” for spacecraft, turning a silent failure into usable evidence. We are expanding in the United States because that is where the demand has moved fastest, and where the strategic stakes of attribution are highest."

Odin's proprietary technology is flight-proven and has now been miniaturized into a commercially available product. Often described as "the black box for spacecraft," Nano Sensors integrate onto the surface of a satellite and log sub-centimeter impacts as they happen. They form part of an always-on sensor network that includes Odin's Outposts - dedicated sentinel satellites providing continuous reconnaissance and monitoring of the 99% of orbital debris that ground-based solutions cannot detect. Arkisys, Odin's first U.S. customer, is integrating Nano Sensors across its platform. Further deployments of both Nano Sensors and Outposts are under commercial discussion with U.S. operators.

For defense customers, the stakes are different. A spacecraft can be struck, disabled, or deliberately targeted today with no attributable signature and no reliable way to distinguish a natural event from an adversarial one.

Odin's data is also powering a new collision insurance product for commercial spacecraft, delivered through Lloyd's of London underwriters. This independent verification means that for the first time, on-orbit insurance will become accessible to all satellites with premiums starting from just $24,000.

The U.S. expansion is supported by Odin's senior advisor Jerry Welsh, the former CEO of ICEYE US, who brings deep experience scaling space and defense businesses in the U.S. market.

The wider story is shifting across the space industry. Sub-centimeter debris has been the biggest blind spot in orbit for decades: the dominant driver of risk to every operational spacecraft, and the one part of the environment no one has been able to measure. Commercial and defense operators, insurers, and regulators are starting to wake up to it.

About Odin Space 

Odin Space delivers the first end-to-end intelligence on lethal, non-trackable space debris, providing the data layer needed to understand, manage, and insure against collision risk. Odin's Nano Sensors and Outposts work together as a distributed, always-on sensor network, revealing what is happening in orbit and alerting operators to emerging and evolving threats. Backed by partnerships with leading insurance brokers and Lloyd's of London underwriters, Odin is bringing affordable collision insurance to commercial spacecraft for the first time. From mission design to in-orbit operations, Odin gives operators the insight and protection needed to navigate an increasingly congested space domain.