Orbex, a leading developer in the European space industry, has secured an extension of its contract with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Boost! programme, accompanied by additional funding of €5.6 million (£4.7 million).
This extension is part of ESA’s broader initiative to support emerging commercial launch service providers in Europe as they prepare for their inaugural launches.
The new infusion of funds will enable Orbex to advance towards the first launch of its Prime rocket in the coming year, creating over 200 positions across its facilities in Scotland and Denmark. Based in Forres, Orbex stands as the sole space rocket production company in the UK and also manages the Sutherland Spaceport, which is currently being built on the A’ Mhoine peninsula along the north coast of Scotland.
Phil Chambers, CEO of Orbex, expressed his enthusiasm about the funding extension. He commented: “We welcome this further €5.6 million extension of funding from the European Space Agency’s Boost! Programme. The initial award made in 2020 has helped us to progress the development of our spaceflight systems. This funding extension will enable us to make the vital next step in our journey as we move towards our inaugural launch of our microlauncher, Orbex Prime next year.”
The Boost programme, which began in 2019, aims to provide co-funding to support the development of commercial space transportation services.
ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, Toni Tolker-Nielsen, highlighted the importance of these initiatives:
“Europe’s emerging commercial launch service providers are pushing towards their first launches. We are very interested to see their rockets deliver, diversifying the European launch services on offer.”
Orbex’s Prime rocket is a 19-meter-long micro-launcher designed to launch small satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits. It is engineered for sustainability, using bio-propane as fuel, which significantly reduces its carbon footprint compared to traditional satellite launch vehicles.
