Reaching space by overcoming gravity with the brute force of a rocket launch is no easy feat – but after 10 years of hard work in the north of Scotland, engineers at Orbex felt they were getting close.
“We were on the brink of something incredibly special,” said chief technology officer Andy Bradford on Monday (16 February) in a post showing assembly of the Prime rocket in Forres, 40km northeast of Inverness. “These images show just how close we were.”
Along with Glasgow firm Skyrora, Orbex was one of two companies developing British rockets to supply the UK’s domestic vertical launch ambitions. Innovations in the ‘microlauncher’ included a 3D-printed engine and a low-weight recovery system for reuse, while the company planned to use a renewable biofuel to reduce launch emissions by 90%. It also had planning permission to build a spaceport further north in Sutherland, although construction was paused in December 2024.
The future of the Prime project is now under threat. Last Wednesday, Orbex announced it was appointing administrators after fundraising, merger and acquisition opportunities all concluded unsuccessfully.
“Disappointing doesn’t come close to describing how we feel about this moment,” said CEO Phillip Chambers. “We have been successfully developing a sustainable, world-class sovereign space launch capability for the UK, and were on the cusp of our first test flights later this year.
“It is no secret that designing and building space rockets to enable a launch service is a capital-intensive, highly advanced process with a long development cycle that creates a scale-up funding gap. Institutional support is crucial to bridge this gap and we have worked tirelessly to try to find both funding or rescue solutions.
“What is most disappointing is that we have brought hundreds of skilled jobs to Scotland; we have been at the vanguard of the UK’s space ambitions; we have led the way in driving good news about the UK’s space sector. Yet all of this progress now risks being undone – and it is real people who will feel the consequences.”
In total, 163 roles are at risk in the UK, a spokesperson told Professional Engineering – 154 in Forres and seven remote roles. The Danish side of the business has already gone into administration, putting another 84 jobs at risk.
As well as the potential loss of so many jobs, the collapse could be a blow to UK space launch plans and have wider ramifications for the British space industry, which has grown by 3.3% per year since 2010 and generated £18.6bn in income in 2022-23.
Orbex said it would continue trading “while all options for the future of the company are explored”, including the potential sale of all or parts of the business or assets. Both Skyrora, its main competitor, and Munich-headquartered rocket company The Exploration Company have expressed interest, although the latter’s bid was unsuccessful.
“Our engagement with Orbex reflected our ambition to strengthen Europe’s space capabilities and ensure sovereign access to orbit. We thank Orbex and the UK government for their excellent collaboration during the exchanges we had,” said CEO and founder Hélène Huby in a statement to Professional Engineering.
“We remain fully committed to moving full speed ahead on our high-thrust rocket engine roadmap and will continue to explore locating some operations at RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria.”
While a government spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment on commercial discussions, they added: “We remain committed to supporting our dynamic space sector. The UK attracts some of the highest levels of private space investment in Europe and is home to over 1,900 innovative space companies supporting tens of thousands of high-skilled jobs across the country.
“We recognise this will be a very worrying time for staff at Orbex. Space launch is a highly competitive sector, and it has always been the case that some companies will succeed, while others will fail. We will be setting out more details about our plans for developing key national space capabilities, including launch, in due course.”
Last Thursday, Skyrora said it was “ready to protect UK space capabilities” in an announcement on its website, and that it intended to explore the purchase of select assets with an investment of up to £10m, including Sutherland Spaceport.
“Skyrora believes that securing select assets is vital to preserving UK space capability, protecting national critical infrastructure, and ensuring that technology and IP developed in the UK remains under UK ownership,” the announcement said. “This safeguards the product of the taxpayer funds historically injected into Orbex.”
An Orbex spokesperson declined to comment on whether or not the company was in discussions with Skyrora.
The Forres company had planned to operate from SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland after pausing construction in Sutherland. SaxaVord CEO Scott Hammond said last week’s announcement was “a sad day for Orbex” but it would have “very little impact on SaxaVord”.
He continued: “While we had agreed heads of terms with the company, Orbex had never reached a position to start on site at SaxaVord and let us develop infrastructure for them to launch from.
“Our business model has always been multi-client because at the outset we recognised that, in what is a very competitive rocket launch market, not all players would succeed.
“For us, fortunately, it is business as usual as we work with our other clients on testing, test flights and launches in the months and years ahead. SaxaVord is very much ready for launch.
“For the Orbex staff who now find themselves out of work, I am sorry and I wish them well.”
Extracted from IMechE website, read more here