SCOTS space firm Orbex has won a €7.45 million (£6.3m) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) for an initiative to support commercially sustainable space transportation services in Europe.

The company is based at Forres, on the Moray coast, and said the award will help create a “significant” number of new jobs there. It also has production and testing facilities in Denmark.

This is the largest award so far made to the firm’s commercial space transportation services and support (C-STS) programme. Funds from it will go towards the completion of spaceflight systems in preparation for the first launches of Orbex’s 19-metre “microlauncher” rocket, Prime.

More than €11.2m (£9.5m) of the total will go to work undertaken in the UK, particularly the lightweight avionics designed in-house at Forres, and the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) software subsystem being designed by Elecnor Deimos, a strategic investor and partner.

The remaining €900,000 (£770,000) will support the development of the GNC for the orbital phase being developed by Elecnor Deimos for Orbex in Portugal.

As Orbex prepares for its first UK Pathfinder launch, the company has ramped up its recruitment efforts, most recently hiring a new head of GNC with experience from several European spaceflight programmes.

Orbex has already signed six commercial customers for satellite launches, the first of which is expected next year from its carbon-neutral home spaceport, Space Hub Sutherland – on the A’Mhoine peninsula in the far north-west of Scotland – where construction is expected to start later this year.

This is currently the only vertical launch spaceport in the UK to receive planning permission.

Chris Larmour, CEO of Orbex, said: “We very much appreciate the investment in new, commercially-focused microlauncher technologies from ESA’s new Boost! Programme. And we’re especially grateful for the strong support we received from the UK Space Agency and the Portuguese Space Agency, PT Space.

“Orbex´s environmentally sustainable microlaunchers will soon be launching for the first time from the UK, and ESA’s recognition of the commercial and scientific opportunities this brings to Europe is significant.”

Uniquely for a commercial rocket, the reusable Prime is fuelled by bio-propane, a clean-burning, renewable fuel which reduces CO2 emissions by 90% compared to kerosene-based fuels, and creates no atmospheric black carbon.

Thilo Kranz, from the ESA, added: “During the evaluation process that preceded this award, we examined Orbex’s service proposal in detail and developed an appreciation for the underlying technical concept as well as the entrepreneurial and commercial approach.

“There is excitement and momentum in European spaceflight, and privately led initiatives, like the one from Orbex, are going to be a critical component of the long-term success of the European space industry.”