Space company behind plans to launch satellite from Unst to enter administration
SaxaVord says news will have ‘very little impact’ on spaceport
A UK-BASED space company – which had claimed it would launch a satellite from Unst this year – is set to enter administration.
Orbex, which is a space rocket manufacturer and orbital launch company, is in the process of appointing administrators after fundraising, merger and acquisition opportunities all concluded unsuccessfully.
It has now filed a notice of intention to appointment administrators, but will continue trading while all options for the future of the company are explored.
These including potential sale of all or parts of its business or assets.
Orbex said it sought funding from a “variety of public and private investors”, which had “ultimately failed”.
The company’s chief executive Phil Chambers said that “disappointing doesn’t come close to describing how we feel about this moment”.
“We have been successfully developing a sustainable, world-class sovereign space launch capability for the UK and were on the cusp of our first test flights later this year,” he said.
“It is no secret that designing and building space rockets to enable a launch service is a capital-intensive, highly advanced process with a long development cycle that creates a ‘scale-up’ funding gap.
“Institutional support is a crucial to bridge this gap and we have worked tirelessly to try to find both funding or rescue solutions.
“What is most disappointing is that we have brought hundreds of skilled jobs to Scotland; we have been at the vanguard of the UK’s space ambitions; we have led the way in driving good news about the UK’s space sector.
“Yet all of this progress now risks being undone – and it is real people who will feel the consequences.”
Orbex had been planning to launch its first satellite from SaxaVord Spaceport in 2025, but in June last year said it was likely to be 2026 before the first launch.
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A spokesperson for Orbex said “moving parts”, including infrastructure requirements and engagement with regulators, had led to the slippage at the time.
SaxaVord Spaceport chief executive Scott Hammond called it a “sad day for Orbex”, but said it would have “very little impact on SaxaVord”.
“While we had agreed heads of terms with the company, Orbex had never reached a position to start on site at SaxaVord and let us develop infrastructure for them to launch from.
“Our business model has always been multi-client because at the outset we recognised that in what is a very competitive rocket launch market not all players would succeed.
“For us, fortunately, it is business as usual as we work with our other clients on testing, test flights and launches in the months and years ahead. SaxaVord is very much ready for launch.
“For the Orbex staff who now find themselves out of work, I am sorry and I wish them well.”
In late 2024 it was announced that Forres-based Orbex was shifting its launch operations from a proposed spaceport in Sutherland, to SaxaVord in Unst instead.
The company was also awarded £20 million in investment from the UK Government in early 2025.
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