British rocket launch backed by Labour falls further behind in space race

A British rocket start-up backed by Labour has pushed back the date of its first launch and is hunting fresh funding as the UK faces falling further behind in the space race.
Orbex, which in January received a £20m investment from the taxpayer, confirmed its first test launch from the Shetland Islands would be in 2026, rather than later this year as hoped.
The start-up is building its 62ft Orbex Prime rocket at a factory in Scotland, which is intended to carry small satellites into space.
After securing taxpayer support, Orbex is now seeking a further £120m in funding from private investors over the next four years to bring its ambitions to reality, it said in a submission to MPs.
The company is also pushing for further government backing, calling for support for its bid to build a new, larger rocket for the European Space Agency.
The space organisation, of which the UK is a member, is offering companies up to £144m for its European Launcher Challenge as Europe seeks alternatives to its current reliance on Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Orbex has been lobbying for Labour's £7bn National Wealth Fund to back the space sector, which it said in a consultation filing to MPs could 'level the playing field and unlock significant value for the UK economy'.
The delay to Orbex's mission comes after a series of setbacks for Britain's fledgling launch industry. After a failed launch from Cornwall in 2023, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit went bankrupt. Since then, no new attempts at an orbital mission have gone ahead.
Now, a number of small rocket companies are seeking to launch from UK soil, largely from Saxavord, a spaceport on the Shetland Islands, although they have faced delays.
German start-up, Rocket Factory Augsburg, is still targeting a mission this year from Shetland, although its last test ended with its rocket exploding on the launchpad. Skyrora, a Scottish start-up, is hoping to launch from Shetland next year.
A spokesman for Orbex said: 'There are many factors at play in determining our launch schedule, including licensing and launch logistics. This is not unusual.'
The spokesman added government support would be needed to build a European rocket: 'National funding commitments and private investment will both be needed for winning bidders.
'UK Government support for our sector will send a clear signal to ESA that UK orbital launch companies like Orbex are a smart choice and long-term partner.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Telegraph

32 minutes ago

• Telegraph

Amazon data centres to consume ‘as much electricity to power Burnley'

A complex of huge data centres being built by Amazon in Britain will consume as much electricity needed to power a town the size of Burnley, campaigners have claimed. The proposed data centres, near Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire, are projected to consume around 114.8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year. This equivalent to the power consumed by more than 42,500 UK households, according to researchers at Global Action Plan, which is campaigning against the development. It exceeds the number of homes in Burnley, which stood at 41,955 after the most recent Census in 2021. Planning documents show the two data centres in the development will include 42 back-up diesel generators, each around 25 metres tall, that need to be fired up fortnightly to check they are working. It is estimated this will produce the same emissions as 1,079 homes heated by gas. The plans were lodged with Central Bedfordshire Council by Colliers Properties, a known partner of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the retail giant's cloud computing division. The documents name Amazon Data Services UK as the site's eventual operator. Known as Linmere Island, the project would sit on an empty 22-acre greenfield site. While the plans also include 140 solar panels, it is not clear how much power they will supply to the data centres.

Times

37 minutes ago

• Times

Trump tariffs leave UK firms scrambling to renegotiate contracts

British companies are looking to renegotiate supplier contracts as they scramble to find savings that can protect them from the impact of escalating US tariffs, according to new data. A survey of firms with more than 5,000 employees found that 90 per cent fear that President Trump's import duties would hurt their revenues and profits, with businesses looking at a series of ways to manage rising costs. More than half (55 per cent) said their main tool to deal with tariff threats was to review existing contracts to find savings or renegotiate better terms with break clauses that could account for the imposition of new levies, according to Acertis, which provides contract management software. Bernadette Bulacan at Icertis said companies' first resort 'to protect margins is to take a critical look at customer and supplier relationships. For many companies, the path to surviving tariff disruption starts not with policy lobbying but with a forensic look at what's already been committed to on paper.' She said firms were taking measures to include rules of termination and force majeure clauses in contracts to deal with costs caused by tariffs, while also seeking out new suppliers in countries that were not affected by sweeping US levies. The Trump administration applied a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs he had announced on most of the world economy on April 8, which is due to expire in early July. The president has signed a partial tariff deal with the UK, but most British goods will still be subject to a 10 per cent tariff when selling to US markets, raising the average US tariff rate from about 1 per cent last year to more than 6 per cent. The European Union is also in talks with the White House about avoiding a potential 55 per cent tariff on all its goods exports. • Britain's exporters at a loss over US tariff turmoil The debate over contractual terms between suppliers and customers is part of a swathe of legal complexities about who should shoulder the cost of import taxes. In April, Howmet Aerospace, an American supplier of components to the sector, declared a force majeure event that would allow it to stop shipments if it remained subject to US tariffs. Although the full gamut of threatened tariffs has not yet been applied on most countries, recent data has shown a spike in invoice rejections as businesses attempt to delay supplier payments until they have more certainty about US trade policy. Icertis's survey, which included 1,000 companies across Britain, the United States and India, found that just under half of them were 're-evaluating' where to find suppliers to avoid tariffs, restructuring their supply chains and manufacturing plants, and also considering 'sunsetting relationships that no longer serve under new cost and compliance pressures'. About 40 per cent of UK firms said they would absorb higher costs into their margins and just over a third said they were planning to raise prices charged to consumers to deal with tariffs. Bulacan said companies should also consider price adjustment clauses that account for tariff changes. 'In the same way that force majeure clauses changed fundamentally during the pandemic, these clauses could be invoked against new tariffs to prevent potential losses,' she said.

Times

37 minutes ago

• Times

High earners face surge in tax investigations

High earners face a surge in tax investigations after HM Revenue & Customs doubled revenues from inquiries into the wealthiest Britons last year. A freedom of information request has revealed that HMRC's wealthy and mid-sized business compliance directorate, which examines the tax affairs of those earning more than £200,000 a year or with assets above £2 million, yielded more than £1.5 billion in 2024, double the amount raised the previous year. The success of the unit has led to a decision to hire an extra 400 specialist compliance officers, who will be added over the next four years. The government hopes the move will bring in at least another £500 million in tax revenues by 2030. Accountants have said the number of investigations into wealthy individuals will inevitably increase.