Insurance Innovations for Space Debris Collisions

A pair of companies are teaming up to provide customers with pioneering insurance for spacecraft specifically to cover space debris collision events. California on-orbit services startup Arkisys is collaborating with London-based Odin Space to offer specific collision insurance, based on verified debris impact data from Odin Space's sensors.

Arkisys's upcoming Cutter mission will carry sensors developed by Odin Space, which are designed to pinpoint the exact moment of an impact to a spacecraft and its location. These Odin Space Nano Sensors will act as a 'black box' for spacecraft, collecting forensic on-orbit data to verify that a damaged spacecraft experienced an impact event consistent with debris or micrometeoroid strikes.

Cutter is designed to host payloads or provide 'last mile' transportation after launch, such as delivery to Arkisys Port modules in orbit. David Barnhart, CEO and co-founder of Arkisys, emphasized that this partnership offers customers a new on-orbit commercial logistics domain and a method to safeguard their business investments and operations.

He stated, 'We see this partnership as one of the key enablers for the new in-space circular economy to enable thousands of new customers to develop new commercial innovations in space.' Odin Space is working to predict and monitor dangerous sub-centimeter orbital debris, which can't be tracked from the ground.

Even tiny pieces can cause significant damage, as space debris travels at orbital speeds of approximately four point five to five miles per second, with collision velocities of up to nine point three miles per second.

Earlier this month, Odin Space secured seed funding of three million dollars from investors to enhance its tracking and mapping of debris threats with its Nano Sensors and Scout Satellites. James New, CEO and co-founder of Odin Space, remarked that this partnership marks a pivotal shift in how the industry addresses the rising threat of lethal, non-trackable debris, and equipping Arkisys spacecraft with Odin's Nano Sensors signifies the beginning of a new era in safer, smarter, and more sustainable space activity.