Orbex

Orbex (Orbital Express Launch Ltd.) was a UK aerospace company originally founded in 2015 as Moonspike Ltd., renamed Orbex in 2016, and headquartered in Forres, Moray, Scotland. The company developed commercial orbital launch vehicles targeting nano- and microsatellite deployment to polar and sun-synchronous low Earth orbits from UK spaceport sites.

Orbex's Prime rocket was designed as a compact, low-carbon launch vehicle using bio-propane and liquid oxygen propellants, with a notably small environmental footprint for an orbital launch system. The company also developed the larger Proxima medium-lift rocket and was selected by the European Space Agency for its European Launcher Challenge, with potential funding of €169 million. Orbex raised over £110 million across multiple funding rounds, including £30 million in 2018 and £40.4 million in 2022, and counted Lockheed Martin as a major strategic investor.

Despite strong institutional backing and technical progress, Orbex ceased all operations on February 18, 2026, after failed acquisition talks, making it one of the most prominent closures in Europe's commercial launch sector. The company's work on Prime and Proxima contributed significantly to the development of the United Kingdom's space launch industrial base.