Orbex was a United Kingdom-based aerospace company headquartered in Forres, Moray, Scotland, that developed commercial orbital launch vehicles, including the small Prime rocket and the planned medium-lift Proxima, designed to carry small satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits. The company was founded in 2015 as Moonspike Ltd and renamed Orbital Express Launch Ltd, known as Orbex, in 2016; it raised significant funding, including 30 million pounds in 2018 and 40.4 million pounds in October 2022, and employed about 170 people by 2024. Orbex had planned to launch from the SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands of Scotland, but the company entered insolvency proceedings in February 2026 after acquisition talks with The Exploration Company failed, and it ceased operations on February 18, 2026.
Facts
Agency TypeUnited Kingdom-based aerospace company that was developing commercial orbital launch vehicles 1 Orbex ceased operations on 18 February 2026 following failed takeover talks with The Exploration Company and insolvency proceedings; these facts describe the company as it operated before closure. Founded YearFounded in 2015 as Moonspike Ltd, per the infobox founded field, before being renamed Orbital Express Launch Ltd. (Orbex). HeadquartersForres, Moray, Scotland, United Kingdom 1 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Orbex
Wikipedialead paragraph, sentence 1
Orbital Express Launch Ltd., or Orbex, was a United Kingdom-based aerospace company that was developing commercial orbital launch vehicles, namely a small rocket called Prime and a medium-lift rocket called Proxima.
infobox field founded
2015
lead paragraph, sentence 2
Orbex was headquartered in Forres, Moray, in Scotland and had subsidiaries in Denmark and Germany.
infobox field key_people
Phillip Chambers (CEO)
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