Alba Orbital

Last updated

Alba Orbital
Company type Limited company
IndustrySatellite Manufacture
Founded5 October 2012 [ citation needed ]
Headquarters
Glasgow
,
United Kingdom
Key people
 Tom Walkinshaw
ProductsPocketqube Platforms and Components
Total assets £90,954
Website www.albaorbital.com

Alba Orbital is a Scottish company that specializes in building PocketQube satellites and Albapod satellite deployment systems. Alba Orbital is the developer and manufacturer of the Unicorn-1 and Unicorn-2 satellite platforms. [1] Alba Orbital is headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland.

Contents

Overview

Alba Orbital specializes in designing and building PocketQube satellites. The company has developed two satellite platforms. The Unicorn-1 platform is a 1P (5cm x 5cm x 5cm) PocketQube satellite, while its larger counterpart, Unicorn-2, is a 2P satellite (5cm x 5cm x 10cm). [2]

History

The company was founded by Tom Walkinshaw in 2012. [3]

Launches

Alba Orbital is a launch broker and has purchased capacity with several space companies, including SpaceX and Rocket Lab, [4] to launch PocketQube satellites into orbit. The company also hold contracts with the European Space Agency for ARTES. [5] [1] These launches harbor clusters [6] [7] containing space for PocketQubes that are sold to teams wanting to launch pods. Every Alba Orbital flight uses Albapod deployers to release the clusters. These deployers come in two sizes: 6P and 96P. [8] As of December 2023, Alba Orbital has successfully launched seven missions into low Earth orbit, while one mission failed before deployment on the first flight of Orbiter SN1.

Interstellar Communication [9] Holdings signed a rideshare agreement with Alba Orbital to assist in the launch of its icMercury [10] PocketQube satellite via SpaceX to be launched in early 2025. [11]

Mission NameDateLaunch VehiclePayloadsCustomersOutcome
Alba Cluster 26 December 2019 Electron Flag of Hungary.svg ATL-1 BME Success
Flag of Spain.svg FossaSat-1FOSSA Systems
Flag of the United States.svg NOOR 1A, 1B (Unicorn-2B, 2C)Stara Space
Flag of Hungary.svg SMOG-P BME
Flag of the United States.svg TRSI-1ACME AtronOmatic
Alba Cluster 313 January 2022 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Delfi-PQ TU Delft Success
Flag of Spain.svg EASAT-2 AMSAT EA
Flag of Turkey.svg Grizu-263a ZBEU
Flag of Spain.svg HADES AMSAT EA
Flag of Argentina.svg MDQube-SAT 1Innova Space
Alba Cluster 4 Flag of Brazil.svg PION-BR1PION Labs
Flag of Israel.svg SATLLA 2A, 2B Ariel University
Flag of the United States.svg Tartan Artibeus-1 (Unicorn-2TA1) CMU
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-1Alba Orbital
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-2A, 2D, 2EAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster X2 May 2022 Electron Flag of the United States.svg MyRadar-1 ACME AtronOmatic Success
Flag of the United States.svg TRSI 2, 3ACME AtronOmatic
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-2FAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster (?)3 January 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 / Orbiter Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-2GAlba OrbitalFailure [12]
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-2HAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster 612 June 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Turkey.svg IstanbulHello SpaceSuccess
Flag of Hungary.svg MRC-100 BME
Flag of Romania.svg ROM-2 ICHSB
Flag of Israel.svg Satlla-2I Ariel University
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-2IAlba Orbital
Flag of Spain.svg URESAT-1 AMSAT-EA
Alba Cluster 711 November 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Spain.svg Hydra-1 / HADES-DHydra Space / AMSAT EA
Flag of Romania.svg ROM-3 FRR
Flag of Malaysia.svg SpaceANT-DSpaceIn
Flag of the United States.svg Tartan Artibeus-2 CMU
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-2J, 2KAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster 81 December 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Argentina.svg MDQubesat-1Innova SpaceSuccess
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Unicorn-2L, 2M, 2NAlba Orbital
Flight 814 January 2025 Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Turkey.svg Skylink-1Hello Spacerowspan="7"Success
Flag of Turkey.svg Skylink-2Hello Space
Flag of Poland.svg HYPE AGH University
Flag of Portugal.svg PROMETHEUS-1 Minho University
Flag of Luxembourg.svg PoquitoUniversity of Luxembourg
Flag of Spain.svg Hades-RHydra Space
Flag of Spain.svg Hades-THydra Space

Funding

In 2021, Alba Orbital participated in the startup accelerator program Y Combinator, located in Silicon Valley, United States. They raised US$3.4 million after completing the program. [13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Alba Orbital: pushing the limits of space development". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  2. ↑ Wired. "Alba Orbital: pushing the limits of space development". Wired UK.
  3. ↑ Parsonson, Andrew (3 October 2023). "Alba Orbital Move into new PocketQube Manufacturing Facility". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "Rocket Lab to Launch Four PocketQube Satellites for Alba Orbital". Rocket Lab. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  5. ↑ ESA. "ESA ARTES Contractors".
  6. ↑ "Scottish satellite firm plans second PocketQube launch mission". The National.
  7. ↑ Brothers, Eric (19 February 2022). "Alba Orbital launches small satellites from 3D-printed deployment devices". Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  8. ↑ "Unicorn-2 Mission Ideas". Alba Orbital. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  9. ↑ "Interstellar Communication - Investment Company & Financial Advisory Services in New York". dgipl.com. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  10. ↑ "Your Personal Messenger to Space | icMercury". 26 May 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  11. ↑ "Interstellar Communication Holdings announces agreement with Alba Orbital for icMercury launch – SatNews". news.satnews.com. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "Orbiter SN1 Mission Update". Launcher. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Scots firm behind pocket-size satellites takes aim at world record after Silicon Valley funding". 26 August 2021.
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