Orbex

Orbital Express Launch Ltd.
Company type	Commercial launch services
Industry	Aerospace
Founded	2015
Founder	Chris Larmour, Kristian von Bengtson
Headquarters	Forres, Scotland, United Kingdom
Key people	Phillip Chambers (CEO)
Products	Prime launch vehicle
Number of employees	170 (2024)
Website	orbex.space

Orbital Express Launch Ltd., or Orbex, is a United Kingdom-based^[4] aerospace company that is developing a small commercial orbital rocket called Prime. Orbex is headquartered in Forres, Moray, in Scotland and has subsidiaries in Denmark and Germany. Orbex may build its future launch complex, Sutherland spaceport, on the A' Mhòine peninsula in the county of Sutherland, northern Scotland, if and when deemed necessary.^[5]^[6]

Launch site

Orbex initially intended to share the Sutherland spaceport in northern Scotland with Lockheed Martin, who at the time did not have a launch vehicle, but their strategic shareholding in Rocket Lab led to speculation that they would launch with the Rocket Lab Electron rocket, but since the two vehicles (Electron and Prime) use different propellants, the two companies would have separate launch pads while sharing some common infrastructure. The planning application for the site, however, includes only one launchpad. Lockheed Martin then moved their launch plans to a competing site, SaxaVord Spaceport, in the Shetland Isles.^[1]^[7]^[8] Orbex also plans to launch from a future spaceport in the Portuguese Azores.^[9]^[10]

Timeline

The company was founded in 2015 as Moonspike Ltd., with the goal of crowdfunding a private spacecraft mission to the Moon.^[11] A Kickstarter campaign running from 1 October to 1 November 2015 raised less than £79,000 out of a goal of £600,000, rendering Moonspike ineligible for the funds.^[12] Moonspike was renamed Orbital Express Launch Ltd. in 2016, with the company now aiming to provide commercial launch services of nano- and microsatellites, especially CubeSats, to polar and Sun-synchronous low Earth orbits.^[13]

In July 2018, Orbex secured £30 million in public and private funding for the development of its orbital rocket system, named Prime.^[1]^[14] In October 2022 Orbex closed a £40.4 million Series C funding round.^[15]^[16] Orbex has opened a factory for Prime in Forres, Scotland that employs 150 people.^[3]

In April 2024, it was reported that the company received $20.7 million in a Series D funding round, with the bulk of the funds going towards development of the Prime launch vehicle.^[17] In November 2024, Orbex announced that the first launch of Prime would be conducted from SaxaVord Spaceport instead of Sutherland.^[5]

In July 2025, Orbex was preselected, along with four other European companies, by ESA for its European Launcher Challenge with funding of up to €169 million per company.^[18]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Orbex stakes claim to European smallsat launch market. Jeff Foust, Space News. July 18, 2018.
^ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/scottish-rocket-launch-boost-to-get-britain-back-into-space-race
^ ^a ^b Dorsey, Kristy (1 May 2024). "New Orbex chief hints at Sutherland launch next year". The Herald. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
^ wearefathom.com, Fathom-. "Orbex". orbex.space. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
^ ^a ^b Foust, Jeff (5 December 2024). "Orbex halts work on own spaceport, shifts launches to SaxaVord". SpaceNews. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^ Clark, Stephen (8 May 2023). "Start of construction paves way for first UK mainland vertical launch". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
^ site selected as launch base for Lockheed Martin, Orbex. Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now. 16 July 2018.
^ Severin Carrell; Steven Morris; Ian Sample (16 July 2018). "Rocket men: locals divided over plans for UK's first spaceport". The Guardian.
^ Jonathan O'Callaghan (21 December 2018). "The Quiet Rocket Startup That Doesn't Want To Be The New SpaceX". Forbes.
^ Deimos Elecnor Group; Orbex (6 November 2018). AZµL - AZores Micro Launcher (PDF). ESA Micro-Launch Services Workshop. ESA.
^ Howell, Elizabeth (1 October 2015). "'Moonspike' Kickstarter Project Aims to Crowdfund Rocket to the Moon". Space.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
^ Foust, Jeff (2 November 2015). "European Moon Venture Regroups After Failed Crowdfunding Bid". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
^ "People In Space: Kristian Von Bengtson, The Man Behind Orbex". Orbital Today. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
^ Orbex Secures £30 Million Funding for UK Space Launch Vehicles. Orbex. 16 July 2018.
^ Foust, Jeff (18 October 2022). "Orbex raises Series C round". SpaceNews. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
^ Parsonson, Andrew (18 October 2022). "Orbex announces £40.4 million Series C funding round". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
^ Alamalhodaei, Aria (2024-04-18). "Orbex's new funding may accelerate its Prime microlauncher into orbit". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
^ Parsonson, Andrew (2025-07-07). "ESA Shortlists Five Companies for European Launcher Challenge". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2025-07-09.

[Foust_July2018-1] Orbex stakes claim to European smallsat launch market. Jeff Foust, Space News. July 18, 2018.

[2] ttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/scottish-rocket-launch-boost-to-get-britain-back-into-space-race

[herald-20240501-3] Dorsey, Kristy (1 May 2024). "New Orbex chief hints at Sutherland launch next year". The Herald. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

[4] wearefathom.com, Fathom-. "Orbex". orbex.space. Retrieved 2021-04-25.

[sn-20241205-5] Foust, Jeff (5 December 2024). "Orbex halts work on own spaceport, shifts launches to SaxaVord". SpaceNews. Retrieved 9 December 2024.

[sfn-20230508-6] Clark, Stephen (8 May 2023). "Start of construction paves way for first UK mainland vertical launch". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 11 May 2023.

[7] site selected as launch base for Lockheed Martin, Orbex. Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now. 16 July 2018.

[Guardian-2018-07-16-8] Severin Carrell; Steven Morris; Ian Sample (16 July 2018). "Rocket men: locals divided over plans for UK's first spaceport". The Guardian.

[ForbesDec-9] Jonathan O'Callaghan (21 December 2018). "The Quiet Rocket Startup That Doesn't Want To Be The New SpaceX". Forbes.

[ESADeimos-10] Deimos Elecnor Group; Orbex (6 November 2018). AZµL - AZores Micro Launcher (PDF). ESA Micro-Launch Services Workshop. ESA.

[11] Howell, Elizabeth (1 October 2015). "'Moonspike' Kickstarter Project Aims to Crowdfund Rocket to the Moon". Space.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.

[12] Foust, Jeff (2 November 2015). "European Moon Venture Regroups After Failed Crowdfunding Bid". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 August 2020.

[13] "People In Space: Kristian Von Bengtson, The Man Behind Orbex". Orbital Today. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2020.

[14] Orbex Secures £30 Million Funding for UK Space Launch Vehicles. Orbex. 16 July 2018.

[sn-20221018-15] Foust, Jeff (18 October 2022). "Orbex raises Series C round". SpaceNews. Retrieved 24 October 2022.

[16] Parsonson, Andrew (18 October 2022). "Orbex announces £40.4 million Series C funding round". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

[17] Alamalhodaei, Aria (2024-04-18). "Orbex's new funding may accelerate its Prime microlauncher into orbit". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-04-19.

[18] Parsonson, Andrew (2025-07-07). "ESA Shortlists Five Companies for European Launcher Challenge". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2025-07-09.

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB Spectrum^† SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Cyclone-4M Deca Eclipse Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 HANBIT-NANO Hyperbola-2 Irtysh KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf RFA One SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIA H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 2-1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

Launch site

Timeline

See also

References