Turion Space

Irvine, United States

Founded 2020

About Turion Space

Turion Space is an Irvine, California-based company developing spacecraft and mission software for space situational awareness, debris removal, and in-orbit satellite servicing. Co-founded in 2020 by Ryan Westerdahl (former SpaceX propulsion engineer), Tyler James Pierce, and Patryk Wiatr, the company has raised $37.5 million from investors including Arc Ventures, Climate First, Veteran Ventures Capital, Washington Harbour Partners, Y Combinator, and Forward Deployed VC. Turion builds Droid spacecraft designed to remove orbital debris and service operational satellites by enhancing mission capabilities or extending operational lifetimes. Their spacecraft use vision sensors and an agnostic docking device to rendezvous and dock with space assets and large debris objects, then utilize onboard propulsion to either deorbit or reposition the target. The company launched its first satellite, Droid.001, a 32-kilogram spacecraft for space situational awareness, in June 2023, with data now integrated into the Space Forces Unified Data Library. Turion has secured significant government contracts including a $32.6 million military contract for in-orbit space surveillance in December 2024 and a $1.9 million SpaceWERX contract for autonomous docking and deorbiting technology. Future plans include a 2026 demonstration featuring a Droid mothership hosting micro-Droid satellites equipped with grapplers for debris capture, partly funded by NASA. CEO Westerdahl projects that by 2027 Turion will produce 45 satellites annually as they scale toward providing comprehensive space debris removal services.