notablelaunch2026-10-02

Omnidea acquires Orbex's UK rocket assets, plans PrimeNEO launcher

Omnidea · Orbex

Portugal's Omnidea bought Orbex's UK manufacturing assets and IP, planning to revive Orbex's Prime launcher as PrimeNEO.

// sources · 3 attached

what happened

Portuguese space technology company Omnidea acquired most of Orbex's UK manufacturing assets, intellectual property and the Orbex brand on September 30, after the UK launch vehicle developer collapsed into administration in February, per European Spaceflight. Omnidea is adapting Orbex's Prime small launch vehicle into a new vehicle called PrimeNEO, "focusing on simplifying the design and improving manufacturability," and has ringfenced more than 10 million euros to integrate the assets and build a UK team at Orbex's former Forres, Scotland facility, per European Spaceflight and Aviation Week. Omnidea did not acquire Orbex's Danish propulsion test site, and said it is too early to set a launch date or choose between Scotland and Portugal's Azores as PrimeNEO's inaugural launch site.

why it matters

The deal keeps a European small-launch program and its UK manufacturing jobs alive rather than letting Orbex's assets go to liquidation piecemeal, as happened with its Sutherland spaceport site in August. For European launch customers and the European Launcher Challenge, it adds a second flag-bearer built on hardware with years of development behind it, rather than a clean-sheet design.