Orbex

Prime
	Second stage engineering prototype of the Prime orbital rocket
Function	Small payloads to low Earth orbit
Manufacturer	Orbex
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Size
Height	19 m (62 ft) [6]
Diameter	1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) [7]
Mass	18,000 kg (40,000 lb) [6]
Stages	2 [6]
Capacity
Payload to LEO	150 kg to 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit[1][8]
Associated rockets
Comparable	Shavit, Kaituozhe-1, Unha, Electron, Miura 5
Launch history
Status	Under development
Launch sites	Proposed: Sutherland spaceport[8], Azores spaceport [6]
Total launches	0
First flight	Proposed: 2021[9][8]
First stage
Diameter	1.3 m (4 ft 3 in)
Engines	6 [6]
Fuel	LOX / bioLPG[6]
Second stage
Diameter	1.3 m (4 ft 3 in)
Engines	1 [6]
Fuel	LOX / bioLPG [6]

Orbex
Type	Commercial launch services
Industry	Aerospace
Founded	2015
Headquarters	Forres, United Kingdom[1]
Key people	Chris Larmour (CEO)[1]
Products	Prime launch vehicle
Number of employees	15 [1] (2018[1])
Website	orbex.space

Orbex is a British aerospace company that is developing a small commercial orbital rocket called Prime. Orbex is headquartered in Forres, Moray, in Scotland and has subsidiaries in Denmark and Germany. Its future launch complex is proposed to be built on the A' Mhòine peninsula in northern Scotland, United Kingdom.

Overview

Orbex was founded in 2015 with the aim at offering commercial launch services of nano- and microsatellites, especially CubeSats into polar and Sun-synchronous low Earth orbits. In July 2018, Orbex secured £30 million ($39.6 million) in public and private funding for the development of its orbital rocket system, named Prime.[1][2] Orbex plans to construct a factory for Prime in Scotland that will eventually employ 150 people.[1] Currently, the company is working on the approval of the Sutherland spaceport in northern Scotland, and is developing the Prime vehicle.

The Sutherland spaceport in northern Scotland was initially intended to be shared with Rocket Lab to launch their Electron rocket, but since the two vehicles (Electron and Prime) use different propellants, the two companies would have separate launch pads while sharing some common infrastructure, however, planning for the site includes only one launchpad.[1][3][4] The company also plans to launch from a future Portuguese spaceport in the Azores.[5][6]

Prime

Orbex is currently developing a light launch vehicle called Prime, and its booster (1st stage) is planned to be reusable.[7][8] The rocket's diameter is 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in), and will use a non-toxic bi-propellant consisting of liquid oxygen and propane.[1] One cited advantage of using propane is that it remains liquid at cryogenic temperatures, which enables a design where a central carbon-fiber tank of propane is surrounded by an outer tank of liquid oxygen, creating a light structural mass.[1] It will be capable of launching payloads up to 150 kilograms (330 lb) to a standard 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit.[1][8]

The maiden flight of Prime is expected for 2021,[9] and it will be for Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. Orbex also announced it was chosen by nanosatellite startup Astrocast to launch their communications satellites.[10]

gollark: Up and working, even.

gollark: Odd that the site's up.

gollark: Oh, well, yes, that's a bug.

gollark: I'm not sure the current situation is a *bug* as much as a *design* problem.

gollark: It would be very weird though.

References

Orbex stakes claim to European smallsat launch market. Jeff Foust, Space News. July 18, 2018.
Orbex Secures £30 Million Funding for UK Space Launch Vehicles. Orbex. 16 July 2018.
site selected as launch base for Lockheed Martin, Orbex. Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now. 16 July 2018.
Severin Carrell, Steven Morris, Ian Sample (16 July 2018). "Rocket men: locals divided over plans for UK's first spaceport". The Guardian.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
Jonathan O'Callaghan (21 December 2018). "The Quiet Rocket Startup That Doesn't Want To Be The New SpaceX". Forbes.
Deimos Elecnor Group, Orbex (6 November 2018). AZµL - AZores Micro Launcher (PDF). ESA Micro-Launch Services Workshop. ESA.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
Orbex - Our Vehicle. Orbex. Accessed: 11 November 2018.
Britain joins the microlaunch space race with a new rocket and spaceport. Eric Berger, Ars Technica. 16 July 2018.
Orbex Reusable Green Launcher Planned To Fly In 2021. Tony Osborne, Aviation Week'. 31 October 2018.
"Rocket company starts countdown on space base in Scotland". Financial Times. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Foust_July2018-1] Orbex stakes claim to European smallsat launch market. Jeff Foust, Space News. July 18, 2018.

[2] Orbex Secures £30 Million Funding for UK Space Launch Vehicles. Orbex. 16 July 2018.

[3] site selected as launch base for Lockheed Martin, Orbex. Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now. 16 July 2018.

[Guardian-2018-07-16-4] Severin Carrell, Steven Morris, Ian Sample (16 July 2018). "Rocket men: locals divided over plans for UK's first spaceport". The Guardian.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

[ForbesDec-5] Jonathan O'Callaghan (21 December 2018). "The Quiet Rocket Startup That Doesn't Want To Be The New SpaceX". Forbes.

[ESADeimos-6] Deimos Elecnor Group, Orbex (6 November 2018). AZµL - AZores Micro Launcher (PDF). ESA Micro-Launch Services Workshop. ESA.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

[Prime_reusable-7] Orbex - Our Vehicle. Orbex. Accessed: 11 November 2018.

[Ars_Tech_2018-8] Britain joins the microlaunch space race with a new rocket and spaceport. Eric Berger, Ars Technica. 16 July 2018.

[Aviation_Week_2018-9] Orbex Reusable Green Launcher Planned To Fly In 2021. Tony Osborne, Aviation Week'. 31 October 2018.

[10] "Rocket company starts countdown on space base in Scotland". Financial Times. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.

Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara A5 Antares 230+ Ariane 5 Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Electron Epsilon Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy GSLV Mk II Mk III H-IIA Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11^† Kaituozhe 2 LauncherOne^† Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 7 7A^† 11 Minotaur I IV V C OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qased Safir Shavit Simorgh^† Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque-1^†
In development	Angara 1.2 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Eris Firefly Alpha Beta H3 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 8 9 Miura 5 New Glenn New Line 1 Nuri OmegA OS-M2 OS-M4 Orbex Prime SLS Soyuz-7 SSLV Starship Terran 1 Vega C Vega E Vulcan Zero Zhuque-2
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 Ariane 1 2 3 4 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Diamant Dnepr Energia Europa^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M Lambda 4S Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Saturn I IB V Scout SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates historical or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but did not ever succeed (never did or has performed a successful orbital launch)

Orbex

Overview

Prime

See also

References