Alba Orbital
Satellite manufacturing company
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| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Satellite Manufacture |
| Founded | 5 October 2012 [1] |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Key people | Tom Walkinshaw |
| Products | Pocketqube Platforms and Components |
| Website | www |
Overview
Alba Orbital is a Scottish company that specializes in designing and building PocketQube satellites and Albapod[2] satellite deployers. 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 3P satellite (5cm x 5cm x 15cm).[3] Albapod deployers come in two sizes: 6P and 96P.[4]
History
The company was founded by Tom Walkinshaw in 2012.[5]
Earth Observation Service
As of 2025 Alba have started publishing images collected on their Unicorn-2[6] satellite constellation.
Launch Broker and Rideshare Services
Alba Orbital a satellite launch broker, purchasing capacity from launch service providers, including SpaceX and Rocket Lab.[7] to carry Albapod deployer clusters[8][9] to space. The capacity within the clusters is then used to carry Alba Orbital satellites as well as other PocketQube payloads to space in a rideshare arrangement.
The company holds contracts with the European Space Agency for ARTES.[10]
Interstellar Communication[11] Holdings signed a rideshare agreement with Alba Orbital to assist in the launch of its icMercury[12] PocketQube satellite via SpaceX to be launched in early 2025.[13]
| Mission Name | Date | Launch Vehicle | Payloads | Customers | Deployment Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alba Cluster 2 | 6 December 2019[14][15] | 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[16] | 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[17] | 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[18] |
| Unicorn-2H |
Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 6 | 12 June 2023[19] | 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[20] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Hydra-1 / HADES-D |
Hydra Space / AMSAT EA | Success |
| ROM-3 |
FRR | ||||
 SpaceANT-D |
SpaceIn | ||||
| Tartan Artibeus-2 |
CMU | ||||
| Unicorn-2J, 2K |
Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 8 | 1 December 2023[21] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | MDQubesat-1 |
Innova Space | Success |
| Unicorn-2L, 2M, 2N |
Alba Orbital | ||||
| Alba Cluster 9 | 14 January 2025[22] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Skylink-1 |
Hello Space | Success |
| Skylink-2 |
Hello Space | ||||
 HYPE |
AGH University | ||||
 PROMETHEUS-1 |
Minho University | ||||
 Poquito |
University of Luxembourg | ||||
| Hades-R |
Hydra Space | ||||
| Hades-T |
Hydra Space | ||||
| Alba Cluster 10 | 15 March 2025[23] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Unicorn-2O, 2P, 2Q |
Alba Orbital | Success |
| Hades-ICM |
HYDRA SPACE / IC MERCURY / SMART IR | ||||
| Hades-W |
Hydra Space | ||||
| Alba Cluster 11 | 28 November 2025[24] | Falcon 9 Block 5 / ION SCV | Hunity |
BME | Success |
| SARI-01 |
Ideia Space / Saudi Space Agency | ||||
| SARI-02 |
Ideia Space / Saudi Space Agency | ||||
| ANISCSAT |
Azercosmos | ||||
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.[25]
See also
- PocketQube – The satellite format Alba Orbital specializes in building