Britain takes stake in SpaceX rival Orbex to boost space ambitions
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/29/britain-takes-stake-in-spacex-rival-orbex-to-boost-space-ambitions.html
Britain takes stake in SpaceX rival Orbex to boost space ambitions
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/29/britain-takes-stake-in-spacex-rival-orbex-to-boost-space-ambitions.html
9 Comments
The U.K. government announced Wednesday a £20 million ($24.8 million) investment in Orbex, a Scottish spaceflight startup aiming to rival [Elon Musk’s](https://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/) SpaceX.
The investment — part of a larger funding round that’s being raised by the firm — was revealed at the European Space Conference in Brussels.
Orbex raised £23 million for its latest fundraise. Other investors involved include Denmark’s Export & Investment Fund, Octopus Ventures and former Informatica CEO Sohaib Abbasi.
The British government also currently holds a stake in Eutelsat OneWeb, which was formed through a 2023 merger of the two firms. The government initially backed OneWeb in 2020 as part of a $1 billion rescue deal with Indian conglomerate Bharti.
# What is Orbex?
Orbex is a startup that develops both small and medium-sized space rockets. The firm uses a renewable form of propane known as bio-propane to fuel its rockets.
It is aiming to launch its first rocket, called Prime, toward the end of 2025. Measuring 19 meters long, Prime is designed to transport small satellites into low-earth orbit.
The government said its investment in Orbex would contribute to its ambition to regularly launch U.K.-made rockets from British soil.
More: [https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/29/britain-takes-stake-in-spacex-rival-orbex-to-boost-space-ambitions.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/29/britain-takes-stake-in-spacex-rival-orbex-to-boost-space-ambitions.html)
Fantastic, about time the UK were serious about space endeavours 🇬🇧👊🏻
“SpaceX rival Orbex”
I think Orbex is still a looooooong way of being a SpaceX rival.
A “rival” in the same way my local pizza place is a rival to Dominos
A rival that isn’t run by a nazi piece of shit is great news for space! Even if they’ll never truly compete on the same level.
You can’t untangle Musk from Spacex
This thread full of nazi apologists
For perspective, this 20 million pound investment by the UK government is roughly 1/3 of the price of a single Falcon 9 launch.
I think this is great! Competition brings advancement.
Quite an interesting headline given Orbex was founded in 2015 and has yet to launch anything…
I saw CNBC and thought “Mike Sheetz agreed to post this?” And then I looked and it had nothing to do with him and I’m really glad I can notice his style from titles lol