Rocket firm Orbex secures £40m funding for Highland launch plan

Orbex has been developing a 19m-long rocket for carrying satellites into low Earth orbit

Moray-based space rocket manufacturer Orbex has secured a £40.4m funding package to help towards planned launches from a Highland spaceport.

The Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) and Jacobs, a company providing services to Nasa, are among the project's new investors.

Orbex has proposed launching small satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Hub Sutherland near Tongue.

The first launch could take place next year.

Orbex, which is headquartered in Forres and has manufacturing sites in the UK and Denmark, said new investment would allow it to scale up its resources - such as employing more staff - and also help it to attract further funding.

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The company has been developing a 19m (62ft) long rocket, called Prime, which would be reuseable and powered by the renewable bio-fuel, bio-propane.

Chief executive Chris Larmour said it already had potential customers from the UK, Europe and America.

He said he was delighted to secure the new funding package, with SNIB as the lead investor.

SNIB was launched in November 2020 and will be backed by £2bn of Scottish government funding over 10 years.

Executive director 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 support scale-ups in Scotland and aligns with our mission to invest in innovation and the industries of the future."

The other new investors include the Danish Green Future Fund, Switzerland-based venture capital firm Verve Ventures and British entrepreneurs Phillip and James Chambers.

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Development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise is leading the £17m Space Hub Sutherland project. The facility is to be constructed on the Moine peninsula.

Plans for up to 12 launches a year from a single launch pad were approved by Highland Council in 2020.

Scottish Land Court approval, which was also required as the proposed development is on crofting land, was granted the following year.

There are separate plans for spaceports in Shetland, Western Isles and at Prestwick in Ayrshire.