Orbex

Orbex (Orbital Express Launch Ltd) was a United Kingdom-based small-satellite launch company headquartered in Forres, Moray, in the north of Scotland. It grew out of Moonspike Ltd, a 2015 venture co-founded by Chris Larmour and Kristian von Bengtson that originally aimed to crowdfund a private lunar mission before pivoting to commercial launch services and rebranding as Orbex in 2016.

Orbex developed Prime, a roughly 19-metre two-stage micro-launcher designed to carry up to 150 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit, with a reusable first stage and low-carbon bio-propane propulsion. In 2022 it unveiled the first full-scale Prime prototype on a launch pad and ran multi-year engine test campaigns at its Kinloss test site, while also planning a larger medium-lift vehicle called Proxima.

Despite raising over $120 million in funding and securing customer agreements with firms such as SSTL, Astrocast and D-Orbit, Orbex never reached orbit. After pausing its own Sutherland spaceport to focus on launching from SaxaVord in Shetland, and following the collapse of a planned acquisition by The Exploration Company, the company entered insolvency and ceased operations on 18 February 2026.