Scottish rocket company counts down to launch with “vital” recruitment drive

Forres based launch services company Orbex is hiring an additional 50 staff members over the next six months.

The new team members will support the company’s final push to prepare for the first vertical rocket launch from UK soil over the coming months.

Many of the new roles will support ‘integrated testing’ of the complete rocket at the Orbex LP1 launch platform test facility at Kinloss. The facility allows for full ‘dress rehearsals’ of rocket launches at Kinloss, situated a few miles from the Orbex headquarters in Forres in Moray, Scotland.

The new roles will also strengthen existing teams responsible for key areas of development of the rocket, including propulsion, structures, avionics, CNC machining and embedded software.

Other recruitment areas will facilitate communications between ground staff and the rocket in flight, covering fields such as GNC (guidance, navigation & control) systems, sensors, data capture, ground segment software, and radio engineering.

15 of the new roles will be non-technical positions, offering a range of people new opportunities to train or re-skill for a career in the UK and European space sector. These positions require “no past experience of the space or aerospace industry” and cover areas such as logistics, finance and procurement.

Orbex recently revealed the full rocket in its final form, making this the first full orbital micro-launcher to be unveiled in Europe. The innovative Orbex Prime rocket will be the first orbital rocket to be powered by a renewable bio-fuel, bio-propane, which will reduce carbon emissions by up to 96 per cent.

The sustainability credentials extend to the company’s ‘home’ spaceport of Space Hub Sutherland on the North coast of Scotland, which aims to become the world’s first carbon-neutral spaceport. Prime is a ‘micro-launcher’ rocket designed to transport small satellites weighing around 150kg to low Earth orbit.

Richard Lochhead, Scottish Government Employment Minister, said: “These jobs will bring us a step closer to achieving our ambition of 20,000 jobs in the Scottish space sector by 2030. Orbex is bringing high-value jobs to Moray while inspiring the study of science and engineering – which will help create future rocket scientists.

“Companies like Orbex are vital to achieving the aims of our newly published National Strategy for Economic Transformation that will support a nation of entrepreneurs and innovators.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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