Alba Orbital

Last updated

Alba Orbital
Company type Limited company
IndustrySatellite Manufacture
Founded5 October 2012 [1]
Headquarters,
United Kingdom
Key people
Tom Walkinshaw
ProductsPocketqube Platforms and Components
Website www.albaorbital.com

Overview

Alba Orbital is a Scottish company that specializes in designing and building PocketQube satellites and Albapod [2] satellite deployers. 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 3P satellite (5cm x 5cm x 15cm). [3] Albapod deployers come in two sizes: 6P and 96P. [4]

Contents

History

The company was founded by Tom Walkinshaw in 2012. [5]

Launch Broker and Rideshare Services

Alba Orbital a satellite launch broker, purchasing capacity from List_of_launch_service_providers, including SpaceX and Rocket Lab. [6] to carry Albapod deployer clusters [7] [8] to space. 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. [9]

Interstellar Communication [10] Holdings signed a rideshare agreement with Alba Orbital to assist in the launch of its icMercury [11] PocketQube satellite via SpaceX to be launched in early 2025. [12]

Earth Observation Service

As of 2025 Alba have started publishing images collected on their Unicorn-2 [13] satellite constellation.

Mission NameDateLaunch VehiclePayloadsCustomersDeployment Outcome
Alba Cluster 26 December 2019 [14] [15] 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 [16] 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 Germany.svg Unicorn-1Alba Orbital
Flag of Germany.svg Unicorn-2A, 2D, 2EAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster X2 May 2022 [17] Electron Flag of the United States.svg MyRadar-1 ACME AtronOmatic Success
Flag of the United States.svg TRSI 2, 3ACME AtronOmatic
Flag of Germany.svg Unicorn-2FAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster (?)3 January 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 / Orbiter Flag of Germany.svg Unicorn-2GAlba OrbitalFailure [18]
Flag of Germany.svg Unicorn-2HAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster 612 June 2023 [19] 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 Germany.svg Unicorn-2IAlba Orbital
Flag of Spain.svg URESAT-1 AMSAT-EA
Alba Cluster 711 November 2023 [20] Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Spain.svg Hydra-1 / HADES-DHydra Space / AMSAT EA Success
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 Germany.svg Unicorn-2J, 2KAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster 81 December 2023 [21] Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Argentina.svg MDQubesat-1Innova SpaceSuccess
Flag of Germany.svg Unicorn-2L, 2M, 2NAlba Orbital
Alba Cluster 914 January 2025 [22] Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Turkey.svg Skylink-1Hello SpaceSuccess
Flag of Turkey.svg Skylink-2Hello Space
Flag of Poland.svg HYPE AGH University
Flag of Portugal (official).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
Alba Cluster 1015 March 2025 [23] Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV Flag of Germany.svg Unicorn-2O, 2P, 2QAlba OrbitalSuccess
Flag of Spain.svg Hades-ICMHYDRA SPACE / IC MERCURY / SMART IR
Flag of Spain.svg Hades-WHydra 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. [24]

See also

References

  1. "Alba Orbital Limited". gov.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  2. "AlbaPod: The Most Advanced Space-proven PocketQube Deployer". esa.int. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  3. Wired. "Alba Orbital: pushing the limits of space development". Wired UK.
  4. "Unicorn-2 Mission Ideas". Alba Orbital. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  5. Parsonson, Andrew (3 October 2023). "Alba Orbital Move into new PocketQube Manufacturing Facility". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  6. "Rocket Lab to Launch Four PocketQube Satellites for Alba Orbital". Rocket Lab. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  7. "Scottish satellite firm plans second PocketQube launch mission". The National.
  8. Brothers, Eric (19 February 2022). "Alba Orbital launches small satellites from 3D-printed deployment devices". Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  9. ESA. "ESA ARTES Contractors".
  10. "Interstellar Communication - Investment Company & Financial Advisory Services in New York". dgipl.com. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  11. "Your Personal Messenger to Space | icMercury". 26 May 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  12. "Interstellar Communication Holdings announces agreement with Alba Orbital for icMercury launch – SatNews". news.satnews.com. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  13. "Unicorn-2 Images". Alba Orbital. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  14. Mission: "Running out of Fingers". Rocket Lab.
  15. "Next Generation Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab's 10th Mission". Rocket Lab USA (Press release). Huntington Beach, California: Rocket Lab. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 16 January 2024.
  16. Clark, Stephen (13 January 2022). "SpaceX launches 105 customer satellites on third Transporter rideshare mission". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  17. "Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys 34 Satellites and Catches Rocket Booster Returning from Space with Helicopter" (Press release). Long Beach, California: Rocket Lab. 2 May 2022. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2022 via Business Wire.
  18. "Orbiter SN1 Mission Update". Launcher. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  19. "Starlink 5–11 launches from Florida as astronomy impacts in focus". NASASpaceFlight.com . 11 June 2023. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  20. "SpaceX to launch 90 payloads on Transporter-9 Falcon 9 mission from Vandenberg – Spaceflight Now". Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  21. "SpaceX launches Irish, South Korean satellites and lands its 250th rocket". Space.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  22. Lentz, Danny (14 January 2025). "SpaceX Transporter-12 launches more than 100 satellites". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  23. "SpaceX launches 74 satellites to orbit, lands Falcon 9 rocket for the 400th time (video)". space.com. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  24. "Scots firm behind pocket-size satellites takes aim at world record after Silicon Valley funding". 26 August 2021.