Exciting times are ahead in the UK’s race to become a major player in Europe’s space industry. Even with a pending exit from the EU, it is not stopping UK businesses racing forward at a tremendous pace. The announcement last year by the UK Space Agency of £50m in funding was met with great applause and has since been followed by some exciting developments by some of the industry’s leaders.
Just recently, Orbex, a Danish company unveiled a prototype of their Prime rocket at an event in their Forres HQ, near Inverness. Although it appears this was only stage 2 of the proposed two stage rocket, it still takes us a step closer to taking up our place in this exciting new development for the UK. There is still a long way to go.
The rocket contained an engine that was 3D printed in Germany in what appears to be a world first for an engine of that size. Although closer scrutiny of the prototype, amid mention of reduced welding (as being one of the benefits of 3D printing) does raise the question of why there is such excessive welding on the nozzle, which looked decidedly patchy. Just a minor observation of something that really stands out on what is otherwise a very slick and well crafted vehicle.
The first launch for Orbex has been announced for 2021, so we expect to see more announcements from this company and from Lockheed Martin as we get closer to the launch pad facilities appearing in Sutherland and the Orbex Prime rocket nearing completion, ready for its inaugural launch.
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