£17.8m investment in Orbital launch services company Orbex I Scottish National Investment bank

Mission Impacts

The investment aligns with the Bank's Innovation mission, as it supports the development of Scotland's space sector.

It also supports the Bank's Net Zero mission as Orbex's innovative Prime rocket will be the first orbital rocket powered by a renewable bio-fuel - Calor's Futuria Liquid Gas, a form of bio propane which helps to reduce the carbon footprint of a launch by up to 96%.

The investment will also support the Bank's place mission as it supports the creation of space-sector jobs.

About Orbex

Orbex is a private, low-cost orbital launch services company, serving the needs of the small satellite industry. Orbex is focused on the development of low carbon, high performance micro-launch vehicles.

Orbex is raising £40.5m to enable the business to fund ongoing research and development, accelerate the development of their launch vehicles towards achieving a commercial launch in 2025.

The Bank is making a £28.3m equity investment which secures the company’s future in Scotland and was pivotal in attracting the additional funding in this round from both new and existing investors.

''With Orbex, we will have a rocket assembled in Scotland, launching from Scotland and likely transporting satellites built in Scotland into orbit.'

Nicola Douglas

Executive Director - Sustainable Investment, Scottish National Investment Bank

Key Information

Key Mission

Harnessing Innovation

Amount Invested

£28.3m

Key Quotes

Chris Larmour, Chief Executive Officer at Orbex said:

“While all eyes are on our first launch, our focus is on going beyond that and building a successful and sustainable space launch business which will be here for the long term.

“This round of funding allows us to maintain that long-term focus. Despite it being a challenging landscape for raising capital, we have managed to attract new investors, as well as bring along many of our existing investors into this new round.

“They have all seen the rapid progress we have made, the innovations that we have delivered in a relatively short space of time and they understand that there is something special happening at this company.”

Orbex