The British government has invested £ 20 million in Orbex Space, a Scottish space startup aimed at competing with ELON MUSK’s SpaceX. The funds, which are part of the large round Ovex, was announced at the European Cosmic Conference held in Brussels.
ORBEX has already secured £ 23 from investors, including Denmark export investment funds, octopus ventures, and former INFORMATICA CEO SOHAIB ABBASI.
This is not the first movement of the UK in the space sector. The government also owns the shares of Eutelsat ONEWEB formed through the merger of 2023. Originally, it supported ONEWEB in 2020 as part of a $ 1 billion rescue agreement with the Indian Balt Group.
With this funding, ORBEX is participating in the growth list of Space Startups in Europe for the purpose of challenging SPACEX. Among them, there are exploration companies that have secured $ 160 million in November to develop reusable capsules designed to position Europe as a serious competitors in the astronaut industry.
What is the Ovex space?
Orbex develops small and medium-sized rockets equipped with Bio-PROPane, a regenerated fuel. The company plans to launch the first rocket Prime by late 2025. A 19 -meter -long prime is designed to carry a small satellite to a low -earth track.
The British government says that supporting Ovex is part of the goal of establishing regular rockets from the UK soil.
Peter Kyle, the UK, said that Backing Ovex would help to increase the status of the country in the space industry. According to CNBC, Orbex CEO’s Phillip Chambers called this investment in British rocket production and launch sector.
Supporting Ovex is useful for “charging the status of the country in the cosmic sector”. He added that the funding has made the UK launched the first rocket of the year, moving forward with a larger rocket and participating in the European launcher Challenge.
“This investment will not only launch the first rocket of the year, but will also paved a way to develop a large rocket that will allow you to compete in the European launcher Challenge,” said Chembers. “These development goals are important for long -term development,” he added.
European SPACEX?
Ovex is not the only one that shakes the industry. SKYRORA, a space company based in the UK, said that the CNBC will launch satellites from the UK this year. Meanwhile, Augsburg (RFA), a German rocket factory, targets the launch of the UK in 2025.
All three are specialized in microchanges and are small rockets built for light payloads. According to an Exchange University study, Ovex claims that its main rocket will generate up to 96 % less carbon emissions than the conventional fossil fuel launch system.
RFA CEO’s STEFAN TWERASER tells the CNBC last week that Europe needs to develop its own space abilities, and is called local strategic future priority.
The government’s support and the growth cosmic sector have established the UK as a serious player for the launch of satellites, but it has not yet been seen if Orbex can compete with SpaceX.
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