UK-based spaceflight services provider Orbex has received £30m ($39.6m) in funding from investors including Elecnor Deimos Space, the space and ICT technology subsidiary of construction firm Elecnor.
The state-owned UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 initiative also took part in the round, along with venture capital funds Sunstone Technology Ventures and High-Tech Gründerfonds.
Orbex is working on an orbital launch vehicle known as Prime that will launch small satellites into orbit. It is intended to be up to 20% more efficient and 30% lighter than existing small launchers, using renewable bio-propane and leaving no orbital debris. Orbex had not disclosed any equity funding prior to the latest round.
Jean-Jacques Dordain, a former director general of the ESA, has taken the chairman role at Orbex’s advisory board, and the company has agreed to investigate the development of a European micro launcher, adding to its projected UK-based launches.
Elecnor Deimos CEO Miguel Belló Mora said: “Despite this being the first time that most people have heard of Orbex, they have quietly and diligently reached the point where they are arguably already the leading European space launch company.
“By rethinking and reframing the problems associated with satellite launches, Orbex has developed something unique and disruptive with its Prime launcher. This is why we are involved both as an investor and a strategic partner. We will be explaining more about what this partnership means for both companies in the near future.”
– Image courtesy of Orbex.