Did the UK Block The Exploration Company’s Purchase of Orbex?

A statement from The Exploration Company suggests its planned acquisition of Orbex was blocked by the UK government. — Credit: Orbex

In a statement to European Spaceflight, a spokesperson for The Exploration Company suggested that the failure of its acquisition of launch services startup Orbex was linked to the UK government’s decision not to approve the transaction.

On 21 January, The Exploration Company announced that it had signed a letter of intent to purchase Orbex, a transaction that became essential to the survival of the UK-based launch services startup after its Series D funding round failed to materialise at the scale it had hoped. In a statement on the transaction, The Exploration Company’s CEO Hélène Huby stated the two companies were working “closely with the UK government to ensure that our combined business reinforces the UK’s launcher roadmap.”

Just three weeks later, on 11 February, the company announced that, after all fundraising, merger, and acquisition opportunities had concluded unsuccessfully, it had formally begun insolvency proceedings by filing a notice of its intention to appoint administrators. In its statement, Orbex created no reference to The Exploration Company or to why its acquisition had fallen through.

On 13 February, in response to a request from European Spaceflight, a spokesperson for The Exploration Company hinted that the UK government had ultimately been responsible for the decision not to proceed with the transaction.

“While we are disappointed that this potential transaction will not relocate forward, we respect the UK decision-creating process,” explained the spokesperson. “Our engagement with Orbex reflected our ambition to strengthen Europe’s space capabilities and ensure sovereign access to orbit. We thank Orbex and the UK government for their excellent collaboration during the exmodifys we had.”

In a statement given to SpaceNews on 11 February, the UK Space Agency appeared to have all but written Orbex off, stating, “Some companies will succeed, while others will fail.”

“We recognize this will be a very worrying time for staff at Orbex. Space launch is a highly competitive sector, and it has always been the case that some companies will succeed, while others will fail,” stated the UK Space Agency spokesperson.

This response appears to be consistent with the UK government’s shifting approach to the launch sector.

On 30 January, the UK government published a series of responses to the Houtilize of Lords UK Engagement with Space Committee’s report, The Space Economy: Act Now or Lose Out. The report advocated the development of a sovereign launch capability, stating that there was a strong “security case” for it. In the government’s response, it shifted that requirement toward “assured access” rather than a sovereign capability. It explained that it would work with “launch companies that can deliver our assured access objectives and develop and strengthen existing partnerships with NATO and European Allies.”

While indicative of shifting tides, the UK government’s responses were not explicit. For that, it explained that it would communicate its “overall approach to supporting the UK launch sector in the forthcoming Spring publication on space.”

What happens to Orbex now?

In a brief LinkedIn post on 11 February, Orbex CEO Phil Chambers stated the company was open to bids for what remains of the company.

“Just to let everyone know, there is an administration process running. Anyone who wants to bid should receive in touch with us.”

In its own statement on 11 February, UK-based launch startup Skyrora announced its intentions to explore the purchase of “select Orbex assets.” Skyrora’s primary focus appears to be on accessing Sutherland Spaceport, the construction of which Orbex pautilized to free up resources for the development of its Proxima rocket, a medium-lift rocket that was in the earliest stages of development.

“Skyrora confirms it intfinishs to explore the purchase of select Orbex assets, including the Sutherland Spaceport, following yesterday’s announcement that the company has appointed administrators,” the statement explained. “Skyrora is exploring an asset acquisition which would see the established operator invest up to £10m, subject to discussions with the appointed administrators and completion of the necessary due diligence and legal processes.”

Skyrora is currently preparing for the second flight of its Skylark L suborbital rocket, which failed shortly after liftoff in October 2022. The company is also working on a larger rocket, Skyrora XL, capable of carrying payloads of up to 315 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

The Exploration Company’s future in the UK

While its purchase of Orbex will not proceed, the company has stated that it is still exploring bringing key operations to the UK.

“We remain fully committed to shifting full speed ahead on our high-thrust rocket engine roadmap and will continue to explore locating some operations at RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria,” explained a spokesperson for The Exploration Company.

The company’s high-thrust rocket engine, which it initially called Typhoon but has subsequently renamed Storm, is designed to produce 250 tonnes of thrust, which is comparable to a SpaceX Raptor engine. The company received early co-financing from the French space agency, CNES, to launch developing the engine.

Despite its plans to purchase Orbex appearing to indicate otherwise, The Exploration Company’s CEO Hélène Huby notified European Spaceflight in December 2025 that it planned to market the engine to “companies that will be building heavy launchers in Europe.”