Orbex, a Scottish rocket company, has recently secured an additional €5.6 million in funding from the Boost programme run by the European Space Agency. This funding extension will help Orbex in moving towards the launch of its Prime rocket next year. This development will also support over 200 jobs at its facilities in Scotland and Denmark.
Headquartered in Forres, Orbex is one of the UK’s two space rocket manufacturers and is currently working on the construction of the Sutherland Spaceport on the A’ Mhoine peninsula in Scotland.
Phil Chambers, the CEO of Orbex, expressed gratitude for the funding extension, stating that it will be instrumental in advancing the development of their spaceflight systems. He highlighted the importance of these programmes in establishing the UK as a central hub for European space flight.
The Boost programme aims to promote commercially sustainable space transportation services in Europe. This recent funding extension follows a successful £16.7 million funding round earlier this year, bringing the total funds raised by Orbex to over £106 million.
Orbex is close to completing the development of Prime, a 19-metre-long rocket designed for launching small satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits. Notably, this rocket is engineered to produce zero debris in orbit and is powered by renewable bio-propane, significantly reducing its carbon footprint compared to traditional satellite launch vehicles.
The announcement of this funding extension was made at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany, following the recent Space-Comm Expo Scotland in Glasgow. Toni Tolker Nielsen, the director of space transportation at ESA, expressed interest in seeing the rockets of Europe’s emerging commercial launch service providers in action.
Matt Archer, the director of launch at the UK Space Agency, emphasized the government’s commitment to establishing a UK launch capability through investments like the one made in Orbex. This funding will not only accelerate the production of Orbex’s Prime launch vehicle but also create high-skilled job opportunities in Scotland.
The successful partnership between Orbex and the European Space Agency highlights the growing potential of the UK’s space industry and its contributions to the European space exploration efforts. As Orbex moves closer to its inaugural launch of Orbex Prime, the future of space exploration in Europe looks promising.
