Photo: Orbex

Orbex is forming a new technology partnership ahead of launching its first rockets from the U.K. The company has formed a new partnership with MSP, which will provide technology to automate the production of components being used by the orbital launch services provider as it progresses towards its first launch. Orbex announced the partnership on May 16.

Orbex is currently constructing Sutherland Spaceport, from which it will vertically launch small satellites into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) using its Orbex Prime microlauncher. In the lead-up to becoming fully operational as a launch services provider, Orbex is creating new partnerships with suppliers.

Based in North East England, MSP’s primary goal is to automate key areas of the CNC machining process to optimize CNC machine productivity, remove setup and alignment errors to prevent parts from being machined incorrectly and scrapped as a result.

“With a strong focus on quality and sustainability, suppliers are a critical part of our journey to launch and each agreement – such as this one with MSP takes us one step closer to delivering our first launch from Sutherland Spaceport. As the team begins to ramp-up we look to work with suppliers that can help us to optimize our processes and automate key elements of production,” Phil Chambers, CEO at Orbex, said in a statement.