| Type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Satellite Manufacture |
| Founded | 5 October 2012 |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Key people | Tom Walkinshaw |
| Products | Pocketqube Platforms and Components |
| Total assets | £90,954 |
| Website | www |
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[1] and Unicorn-2[2] satellite platforms.
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).[3]
Launches
Alba Orbital is a launch broker and has purchased capacity with several space companies, including SpaceX and Rocket Lab, to launch PocketQube satellites into orbit.[4] The company also hold contracts with the European Space Agency for ARTES.[5] These launches harbor clusters[6] 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. 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.
| Mission Name | Date | Launch Vehicle | Payloads | Customers | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alba Cluster 2 | 6 December 2019 | 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 | 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 | 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[7] |
| Unicorn-2H |
Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 6 | 12 June 2023 | 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 | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Hydra-1 / HADES-D |
Hydra Space / AMSAT EA | |
| ROM-3 |
FRR | ||||
 SpaceANT-D |
SpaceIn | ||||
| Tartan Artibeus-2 |
CMU | ||||
| Unicorn-2J, 2K |
Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 8 | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | MDQubesat-1 |
Innova Space | |
| Unicorn-2L, 2M, 2N |
Alba Orbital | ||||
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.[8]
See also
- PocketQube – The satellite format Alba Orbital specializes in building
References
- ↑ "Unicorn 1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ↑ "Unicorn 2A, 2D, 2E". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ↑ Wired. "Alba Orbital: pushing the limits of space development". Wired UK.
- ↑ "Alba Cluster 3/4 info". Alba Orbital. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ↑ ESA. "ESA ARTES Contractors".
- ↑ "Scottish satellite firm plans second PocketQube launch mission". The National.
- ↑ "Orbiter SN1 Mission Update". Launcher. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
- ↑ "Scots firm behind pocket-size satellites takes aim at world record after Silicon Valley funding". 26 August 2021.
