Forres Enterprise Park based company Orbex signs space launch deal with French firm Arianespace
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A Forres Enterprise Park-based company has done an out-of-this-world deal with a European firm.
Provider of small satellite launch services, Orbex, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with launch services provider, Arianespace, for possible future cooperation in answering customer requirements.
Orbex CEO, Martin Coates, confirmed the agreement aims to increase the joint capabilities and flexibility of the two company’s services - particularly for customers planning small satellite constellations - providing a flexible solution for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) payloads.
He said: “This collaboration holds a lot of promise for the European launch market. We already have a strong position in the emerging European microlauncher market and this cooperation could take us even further.”
Light and heavy-lift launch vehicles could jointly support customers in deploying initial constellations into orbit, provide precise injections of a smaller number of satellites through dedicated missions, as well as provide replenishment and replacement launches.
Orbex Prime is a 19-metre long, two-stage rocket designed to transport small satellites into Low Earth Orbit. It is powered by a renewable fuel, bio-propane.
Orbex has received interest from satellite manufacturers and has signed commercial launch contracts with seven customers.
At the end of 2022, it concluded its Series C funding round, netting the company an additional £40.4 million.
Last month Orbex began construction of Sutherland Spaceport where Orbex will launch up to 12 rockets per year for the deployment of satellites into Earth’s orbit.
