Scottish space firm bolstered by addition of experienced space sector advisor

10/09/2024

One of the European space sector’s high-profile figures has joined the Board of Directors at an innovative startup working to transform how space launch companies control their orbital rockets.

Aurora Avionics, the emerging leader in high-reliability avionics controllers for launch vehicles and robotics in extreme environments, has appointed Chris Larmour, the founder and former CEO of Orbex, the space rocket company based in Scotland, as a non-executive director.

“Chris brings a huge amount of experience and a broad network of connections that will help Aurora be commercially successful, assisting us in getting to the next level. His advice and backing is a significant boost for us as we develop our technology and proposition,” said Oren Smith-Carpenter, Aurora Avionics CEO. 

Larmour is widely known within the UK and European space sector and raised around $100 million in venture capital and public funding at Orbex during his tenure as CEO. Orbex now employs more than 200 people.

Aurora is on a mission to revolutionise the electronic control systems, called avionics, that serve as a rocket’s central nervous system. Its co-founders, Oren Smith-Carpenter and Rowland Fraser are both former Orbex employees and experienced aerospace engineers.

The firm recently closed a £320,000 funding round, supported by Scottish Enterprise and the Gabriel group of angel investors, and was recently selected for Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Ventures cluster. Aurora is co-located with the European Space Agency (ESA) at the Higgs Innovation Centre in Edinburgh, and has just moved into a new laboratory and qualification facility.

“I’m delighted to have been asked to join the board at Aurora and to work with Oren, Rowland and their highly experienced chair Richard Cooper. I know the founders very well. They are building a company to provide high reliability avionics for both small launch vehicles and a wide range of other applications that operate in extreme environments,” said Larmour.

Aurora will be Larmour’s first advisory role following his departure from Orbex, and a signal of the opportunity which Aurora expects to capture within the rapidly growing control subsystems market.

“The exponential growth in demand for putting satellites into space is creating a vast market for launch providers, with many hoping to send rockets into space in the coming months and years. Avionics systems qualified for the harsh space environment presents a costly barrier to entry for rocket firms, with high research and design costs.” said Smith-Carpenter.

To find out more about Aurora Avionics, please visit: https://aav.space/

The Latest Stories

Scotland has fastest-growing tech firm in Deloitte UK Fast 50
Glasgow-based drinks brand eyes European expansion
Cooper Parry completes trio of key strategic talent hires in Scotland
Burness Paull adds highly regarded commercial litigator to dispute resolution team