Sniffing Out New Business

SeekOps Inc., a Pasadena startup, manufactures a methane sensor that it attaches to a quad-copter drone and flies over oil and gas fields looking for leaks.

The company, founded by a pair of former Jet Propulsion Laboratory employees who repurposed, slimmed down and licensed a methane-detecting sensor that NASA was using on its Curiosity Rover to search for microbial life on Mars, manufacturers its sensors in-house but buys custom-made drones from San Diego’s Straight Up Imaging.