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| Type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Satellite Manufacture |
| Founded | 5 October 2012 [1] |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Key people | Tom Walkinshaw |
| Products | Pocketqube Platforms and Components |
| Website | www |
Alba Orbital is a Scottish aerospace company that designs and manufactures PocketQube satellites and satellite deployers. [2]
The company was founded by Tom Walkinshaw in 2012. [3] The company is headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. 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. [4]
In 2025, Alba Orbital began releasing Earth observation imagery collected by its Unicorn-2 satellite constellation. [5]
The company has developed two satellite platforms. The Unicorn-1 platform is a 1P (5cm x 5cm x 5cm) PocketQube demonstration satellite. The Unicorn-2 platform, is a 3P Earth observation satellite (5cm x 5cm x 15cm). [6] The company has also developed two spacecraft deployers. The Albapod 6P can carry up to 6 PocketQube satellites. The 96P deployer can carry up to 96 individual satellites supporting a Satellite constellation mission into orbit. [7]
Alba Orbital acts as a satellite launch broker, purchasing capacity from launch service providers, including SpaceX and Rocket Lab.to carry Albapod deployer clusters to space. [8] [9] [10] The capacity within the clusters is then used to carry Alba Orbital satellites as well as other PocketQube payloads to space in a rideshare arrangement.
The company holds contracts with the European Space Agency for ARTES. [11]
Interstellar Communication [12] Holdings signed a rideshare agreement with Alba Orbital to assist in the launch of its icMercury [13] PocketQube satellite via SpaceX to be launched in early 2025. [14]
| Mission Name | Date | Launch Vehicle | Payloads | Customers | Deployment Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alba Cluster 2 | 6 December 2019 [15] [16] | Electron |  ATL-1 | BME | Success |
 FossaSat-1 | FOSSA Systems | ||||
 NOOR 1A, 1B (Unicorn-2B, 2C) | Stara Space | ||||
| SMOG-P | BME | ||||
| TRSI-1 | ACME AtronOmatic | ||||
| Alba Cluster 3 | 13 January 2022 [17] | Falcon 9 Block 5 |  Delfi-PQ | TU Delft | Success |
| EASAT-2 | AMSAT EA | ||||
 Grizu-263a | ZBEU | ||||
| HADES | AMSAT EA | ||||
 MDQube-SAT 1 | Innova Space | ||||
| Alba Cluster 4 |  PION-BR1 | PION Labs | |||
 SATLLA 2A, 2B | Ariel University | ||||
| Tartan Artibeus-1 (Unicorn-2TA1) | CMU | ||||
 Unicorn-1 | Alba Orbital | ||||
| Unicorn-2A, 2D, 2E | Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster X | 2 May 2022 [18] | Electron | MyRadar-1 | ACME AtronOmatic | Success |
| TRSI 2, 3 | ACME AtronOmatic | ||||
| Unicorn-2F | Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster (?) | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 / Orbiter | Unicorn-2G | Alba Orbital | Failure [19] |
| Unicorn-2H | Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 6 | 12 June 2023 [20] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Istanbul | Hello Space | Success |
| MRC-100 | BME | ||||
 ROM-2 | ICHSB | ||||
| Satlla-2I | Ariel University | ||||
| Unicorn-2I | Alba Orbital | ||||
| URESAT-1 | AMSAT-EA | ||||
| Alba Cluster 7 | 11 November 2023 [21] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Hydra-1 / HADES-D | Hydra Space / AMSAT EA | Success |
| ROM-3 | FRR | ||||
 SpaceANT-D | SpaceIn | ||||
| Tartan Artibeus-2 | CMU | ||||
| Unicorn-2J, 2K | Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 8 | 1 December 2023 [22] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | MDQubesat-1 | Innova Space | Success |
| Unicorn-2L, 2M, 2N | Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 9 | 14 January 2025 [23] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Skylink-1 | Hello Space | Success |
| Skylink-2 | Hello Space | ||||
 HYPE | AGH University | ||||
 PROMETHEUS-1 | Minho University | ||||
 Poquito | University of Luxembourg | ||||
| Hades-R | Hydra Space | ||||
| Hades-T | Hydra Space | ||||
| Alba Cluster 10 | 15 March 2025 [24] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Unicorn-2O, 2P, 2Q | Alba Orbital | Success |
| Hades-ICM | HYDRA SPACE / IC MERCURY / SMART IR | ||||
| Hades-W | Hydra Space | ||||
| Alba Cluster 11 | 28 November 2025 [25] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Hunity | BME | Success |
| SARI-01 | Ideia Space / Saudi Space Agency | ||||
| SARI-02 | Ideia Space / Saudi Space Agency | ||||
| ANISCSAT | Azercosmos | ||||
| Alba Cluster 12 | 30 March 2026 [26] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SpinnyONE | HYDRA SPACE / Spinning Around | Success |
 Vegafly-1 | Vegastar/Vietnam Amateur Radio Club (VARC) | ||||
| Decimals-Sat1 | Ocullo Space | ||||
| Unicorn-2R, 2S | Alba Orbital | ||||
