Orbex announces 'collaboration' with European launch services provider Arianespace
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Spaceflight firm Orbex has announced it has formed a partnership with another satellite launch services provider.
UK-based Orbex, which is overseeing the construction of Spaceport Sutherland, is collaborating with Arianespace which has its headquarters at Evry, near Paris.
The two firms have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to look at how possible future cooperation between them could help their respective customer requirements.
It is thought future collaboration could be particularly beneficial for customers planning small satellite constellations.
Orbex chief executive Martin Coates said: "We already have a strong position in the emerging European microlauncher market and this cooperation could take us even further commercially.”
Spaceport Sutherland, located at A'Mhoine, near Tongue, will become Orbex’s "home" spaceport.
Orbex has received widespread interest from satellite manufacturers and has already signed commercial launch contracts with seven customers.
The firm is developing Prime, a 19-metre long, two-stage rocket designed to transport small satellites weighing up to 180kg into Low Earth Orbit.
Orbex Prime is powered by a renewable fuel, bio-propane, which allows the rocket to reduce carbon emissions significantly compared to other similarly sized rockets being developed elsewhere around the world.
A study by the University of Exeter showed that a single launch of the Orbex Prime rocket will produce up to 96 per cent lower carbon emissions than comparable space launch systems using fossil fuels.
Orbex will launch up to 12 rockets per year from Spaceport Sutherland for the deployment of satellites into Earth’s orbit.
