Welcome to our 2026 update on Orbex. For the long read, see our in-depth Orbex review, first published in January 2023 and updated in October 2026. Follow us on X for updates.
🔥 Our 2026 Orbex update:
- 🚀 No launch, administration. Orbital Express Launch Ltd has been in administration since 18 February 2026. Prime never flew, and 155 of its 163 staff lost their jobs on the day of the appointment.
- 💰 GBP 138.5 million raised. The administrators list GBP 105.1 million in equity and GBP 33.3 million in grants since 2015. The statement of affairs shows a deficiency of GBP 54.1 million to creditors.
- 🏛 GBP 76.7 million of public money. The Scottish National Investment Bank added money in 2024 and the UK government GBP 20 million in January 2025, each after missed launch dates.
- 🏭 Omnidea bought the remains. Forres assets, IP, data and the brand went to the Portuguese group on 30 September 2026 for an undisclosed price. HIE took Sutherland, and Kinloss went to a separate buyer.
- 📅 Dates. Launch targets ran from 2021 to 2026. Omnidea’s CEO now calls the 2028 ELC target not viable and sees 2035 as closer.
What we wrote in 2023, and what happened
Our Orbex review from January 2023 questioned the funding figures, the launch dates and the dependence on Sutherland. The table puts each point next to the record from Companies House filings, the administrators’ reports and public announcements since then.
| What the review said (January 2023) | What happened |
|---|---|
| Series C: “GBP 37 million at a GBP 160 million valuation” | Share filings show about 2.48 million Series C shares at GBP 14.80 in October and November 2022, about GBP 36.7 million. The 2022 accounts record an equity raise of GBP 36,712,643. |
| Orbex included grants, loans and in-kind deals in its rounds, “inflating the Series A in what they stated was ‘$40 million'” | The April 2024 “GBP 16.7 million” round came in as convertible loan notes. Of the GBP 105.1 million the administrators call equity, the statement of affairs lists GBP 52.3 million as called-up share capital. |
| “First launch planned 2023/2024 from Space Hub Sutherland” | No launch. The target moved to 2025 at SaxaVord, then late 2025, then 2026. Administration on 18 February 2026. |
| “Manager and operator of Sutherland spaceport”, and “being politically locked in with Sutherland cannot be advantageous” | Orbex paused Sutherland in December 2024 to focus on its rockets. Sutherland Spaceport Ltd went into liquidation on 12 June 2026, owing Orbex about GBP 7.7 million, and HIE bought its assets. |
| “Lack of ambition”: a microlauncher for about 180 kg | In December 2024 Orbex added Proxima, a medium launcher for ESA’s European Launcher Challenge. Omnidea dropped Proxima in 2026. |
| “The brains behind the rocket” sit in Denmark and hold about 2% of the equity | The Danish factory closed on 20 January 2026 with 90 redundancies and the subsidiary filed for bankruptcy. Omnidea did not buy the Danish operations. |
| “A microcosm of the issues plaguing the European newspace ecosystem” | GBP 138.5 million raised, of which GBP 76.7 million public, and zero launches. The UK government: “it has always been the case that some companies will fail”. |
| Our favourable model: 1, 2, 4 and 8 launches in 2023 to 2026, losses of no more than GBP 5 million a year, peak funding need about GBP 88 million | Zero launches. Losses of GBP 16.2 million in 2023 (filed accounts), GBP 18.5 million in 2024 and GBP 25.1 million in 2025 (management figures). Funding reached GBP 138.5 million. |
| Prediction: by 2028 Orbex runs a spaceport, Larmour is still CEO, Copenhagen runs as maintenance | Did not play out. Larmour stepped down in April 2023, Sutherland went to HIE, and the company entered administration in February 2026. |
In April 2023 Chris Larmour announced that he would step down as CEO, saying he had taken Orbex “as far as I can personally”, as reported by TechCrunch. Phil Chambers took over in January 2024 and moved the first launch to SaxaVord in December 2024, and the company entered administration fourteen months later.
GBP 76.7 million of public money, zero launches
The administrators put total funding at GBP 138.5 million and public investment at GBP 76.7 million, including GBP 29 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank and GBP 26 million from the UK government in 2025. HIE expects full repayment of its secured loan of about GBP 0.7 million, and DSIT expects to recover only part of about GBP 6 million. Unsecured creditors are limited to a possible prescribed part of the floating charge realisations.
| Programme | Year | Amount | Promise at the time | Outcome (October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Space Agency LaunchUK grant | 2018 | GBP 5.5 million | Vertical launch from Sutherland | No launch |
| EU Horizon 2020 SME, OrbEx | 2017 | EUR 50,000 | Feasibility study | Project closed |
| EU Horizon 2020, PRIME | 2019 – 2022 | EUR 2.5 million | Development of the Prime launcher | Project ended June 2022, no launch |
| ESA Boost! via the UK Space Agency | 2021 | over GBP 6 million | Prime launch from Sutherland in 2023 | No launch |
| HIE secured loan | 2020 | about GBP 0.7 million outstanding | Secured on Nova House, Forres | Full repayment expected |
| Scottish National Investment Bank, equity | 2022 | GBP 17.8 million | Commercial launch in 2025 | Shares in a company in administration |
| Scottish National Investment Bank, loan notes | 2024 | GBP 10.5 million | Sutherland finished by the end of 2024 | Sutherland paused December 2024 |
| UK government, DSIT investment | 2025 | GBP 20 million | Prime launch from SaxaVord from late 2025 | No launch |
| DSIT secured lending | 2025 | about GBP 6 million | Secured on Nova House, Forres | Series D failed, partial recovery expected |
| ESA European Launcher Challenge | 2025 | Preselection, amount not published | Orbital launch capability by 2028 | Buyer Omnidea calls 2028 not viable |
| Total public investment (administrators) | 2015 – 2026 | GBP 76.7 million | Zero orbital launches |
Measured on results, the public money paid for a factory in Forres, a test stand at Kinloss, a 2.5 km access road across the peatland in Sutherland and no orbital launch. The money kept coming after each missed date. The Scottish National Investment Bank added GBP 10.5 million in April 2024, and the UK government added GBP 20 million in January 2025 on the promise of a launch in late 2025.
After the administration the UK government said that “it has always been the case that some companies will fail”. The Herald reported that about GBP 7 million in UK Space Agency milestone money, which Orbex never reached, would be reallocated to other projects.
Who bought what
- Omnidea bought two of the three Forres buildings, equipment, stock, IP, data from the UK and Danish operations and the Orbex brand, completing on 30 September 2026. It has not disclosed the price, plans a simplified PrimeNEO launcher and says it has ringfenced more than EUR 10 million for the integration, according to European Spaceflight.
- Kinloss: a separate, unnamed buyer paid GBP 220,000 on deposit and exchange for the test site assets, plus deferred consideration that depends on a new MOD licence, according to the administrators’ progress report.
- Sutherland: HIE bought the assets of Sutherland Spaceport Ltd from the liquidators in August 2026 and is reviewing how the partly built site can be used. Our Space Hub Sutherland review covers the site.
- Denmark: the Danish subsidiary, with the Faxe test site, went bankrupt in January 2026. Omnidea decided against buying it.
From 2021 to 2035: the launch dates
Orbex announced its first Prime launch for 2021 in early 2019, then for 2022, 2023, 2025 and late 2025. In July 2025 the Forres Gazette reported planning documents confirming that Orbex had yet to test-fire its engines at Kinloss.
Omnidea’s CEO Tiago Pardal told ECO that the European Launcher Challenge target of orbital launch capability by 2028 is “not at all viable” and that 2035 would probably be closer to the mark (our translation). ESA preselected Orbex for the challenge in July 2025, together with Isar Aerospace, MaiaSpace, PLD Space and Rocket Factory Augsburg.
Interested in more? Read our other reviews and updates
- Orbex review: the full 2023 analysis with the October 2026 update
- Space Hub Sutherland and SaxaVord Spaceport: the two Scottish spaceports in the Orbex plans
- Skyrora: the other Scottish launch startup
- 2026 Update on PLD Space, 2026 Update on Rocket Factory Augsburg, 2026 Update on HyImpulse and 2026 Update on Latitude
- European space map: launch companies and spaceports across Europe
All information in this analysis was obtained from public sources and we encourage you to do your own due diligence. Feel free to contact us for corrections or share our content. Attribution is always welcome.
