A SCOTTISH bank is helping an environmentally friendly space rocket manufacturer to expand its operations following a £17.8 million investment.
The scale-up support from the Scottish National Investment Bank, part of an overall package worth £40 million, will help the Moray-based Orbex unlock significant additional funding sources.
It is hoped this will help to boost plans for future projects.
SNP MSP for Moray Richard Lochhead welcomed the funding package. He said: “Scotland is leading the way in terms of creating space sector jobs in the UK and with Orbex’s facility in Forres, Moray is playing a big role in the development of rockets that will be reusable and powered by bio-fuels.
“This investment in Orbex is hugely welcome and demonstrates just how far the company has come since opening its doors in Forres just a few years ago.”
Earlier this year, Orbex unveiled a prototype of its small satellite launcher ahead of a debut flight from the Space Hub Sutherland spaceport in the coming months.
The Prime rocket will be the first orbital rocket to be powered by a renewable biofuel called Calor’s Futuria Liquid Gas.
This helps reduce the carbon footprint of a launch by up to 96% when compared with similarly sized launch vehicles powered by fossil fuels.
Executive director of the Scottish National Investment Bank, Nicola Douglas said: “This is a very exciting time for the Scottish space sector. With Orbex, we will have a rocket assembled in Scotland, launching from Scotland and likely transporting satellites built in Scotland into orbit.
“This investment is a great example of the bank working with other investors to scale-ups in Scotland and aligns with our mission to invest in innovation and industries of the future.”
Prime is a 19-meter long, two-stage rocket which is powered by seven engines. Six engines on the first stage of the rocket will propel the vehicle through the atmosphere to an altitude of around 80km.
The single engine on the second stage of the rocket will complete the journey to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
From there, its payload of small, commercial satellites will be released into Earth’s orbit with many being used for environmental monitoring.
CEO of Orbex Chris Larmour said: “We are delighted to welcome the Scottish National Investment Bank as a significant new investor in Orbex.
"Our company has made significant progress to get to this point, with the invention of ground-breaking, innovative technology, the rapid development and testing of the launch vehicle, the expansion of our manufacturing footprint in the UK and Denmark, the creation of the UK's first orbital spaceport in mainland Scotland, and the growth in customers from the UK, Europe and America signing up to launch dedicated payloads with Orbex.
“These results have only been made possible by the maturity and dedication of the entire Orbex team, who bring a huge amount of skill and experience to their tasks from a wide variety of industries, launch systems and spacecraft, and by the ongoing trust and support of our partners and investors.
“This new funding round, which was led by the bank, will allow us to continue to build Orbex towards our long-term goal of building a reliable, economically successful and environmentally sustainable European space launch business.”
