Rocket developer Orbex has raised £40.4mln to help it complete the first vertical launch from British soil and the first ever orbital rocket powered by renewable biofuel.
The 'series C' funding round will strengthen the Scotland-based company's bank balance as it looks to hire extra staff and continue pre-launch tests for its 19-metre Prime rocket.
New investors in the funding included the Scottish National Investment Bank, NASA contractor Jacobs, the Danish Green Future Fund, (managed by Vækstfonden, the sovereign investment fund of Denmark), venture capital firm Verve Ventures, and British entrepreneurs Phillip and James Chambers.
Renewed commitments were made by existing investors BGF, Heartcore Capital, High-Tech Gründerfonds and Octopus Ventures.
Orbex chief executive Chris Larmour said: “Orbex has made significant progress to get to this point, with the invention of ground-breaking, innovative technology, the rapid development and testing of the launch vehicle, the expansion of our manufacturing footprint in the UK and Denmark, the creation of the UK's first orbital spaceport in mainland Scotland, and the growth in customers from the UK, Europe and America signing up to launch dedicated payloads with Orbex."
He said the new funding round “will allow us to continue to build Orbex towards our long-term goal of establishing a reliable, economically successful and environmentally sustainable European space launch business.”
Jacobs' Karen Wiemelt said the US giant was “looking forward to collaborating with Orbex over the long term in areas such as operational support and the provision of a range of technical, engineering and consultancy services”.
Current pre-launch tests are being made of its main propellant tanks and engines, said Orbex, as well as testing launch procedures including rollout, strongback erection and fuelling procedures in advance.
The first launch, from the new Space Hub Sutherland spaceport, just north of Inverness, will carry a payload from small satellite specialist, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, Orbex said.
Its recently unveiled Prime rocket is designed to transport small satellites into low Earth orbit, with fully 3D-printed engines and a reusable two-stage design to leave "zero debris on Earth and in orbit".
Potentially Europe's first 'micro launcher' rocket, it is designed to be 30% lighter and 20% more efficient than any other vehicle in the small launcher category, while its biofuels are said to reduce carbon emissions by up to 96%.
If the launch takes place as planned next year it will be the first launch from the new Space Hub Sutherland spaceport, which is just over 55km as the crow flies from Orbex's headquarters in Forres.
Targeting an eventual 12 rocket launches a year, Sutherland is aiming to be the UK's first operational spaceport – although Spaceport Cornwall might have something to say about that as Virgin Orbit is due for a debut ('horizontal') launch next month, not to mention SaxaVord on the Shetland Islands, where Orbex's fellow Scotland-based rocket developer Skyrora is also aiming to launch (vertically) next year.
The British space programme has been going since the 1950s but only one domestically made rocket has ever completed an orbital launch, Black Arrow, and it took off from Australia in 1971.
Orbex recently revealed its “Prime” rocket in its final form, making this the first full orbital micro-launcher to be unveiled in Europe. Prime is a 19-metre long, two-stage rocket designed to transport small satellites weighing up to 180kg into low Earth orbit.