Scotland-based startup Aurora Avionics has won a £525,000 (US$712,000) contract with Spanish aerospike engine developer Pangea.
Aurora is to supply avionics for Pangea’s aerospike engine Arcos.
Studied since the 1950s, aerospike engines use inverted bell-shaped rocket nozzles that enable them to adjust their exhaust flow based on external pressure, making them highly efficient across different altitudes, unlike conventional rocket engines which only work best at certain altitudes.
Although there has been R&D and experimental flights, the aerospike design has never reached operational maturity because of challenges with the design’s cost and manufacturing complexity.
Pangea Propulsion became the first company in the world to successfully fire an aerospike engine using sustainable methane and oxygen propellants, using its Arcos engine in 2021. The company aims for the Arcos to become the first flight-ready reusable aerospike.
Pangea is also working with the European Space Agency to develop in-space propulsion systems.
CEO of Pangea Propulsion, Adrià Argemí said, “We were impressed by the customer-first focus of the Aurora Avionics team and their NewSpace specific technology. Europe needs companies to join forces to accelerate access to space and stay competitive — agreements like this are how we make it happen.”
“We are already enjoying working with the team and expect this contract to be the start of a long collaboration.”
Aurora Avionics CEO, Oren Smith-Carpenter, said: “We have wanted to work with the Pangea Propulsion team since founding Aurora Avionics two years ago. They are a world-leading Space company and are doing groundbreaking work. We think the combination of two ambitious, agile organisations will be a large step forward for European space.
Aurora Avionics, which employs 10 people, makes modular COTS avionics systems for rockets and robotics that operate in extreme environments.
Based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, the firm was founded in 2023 by aerospace engineers Oren Smith-Carpenter and Rowland Fraser, both of whom previously worked at launch vehicle company Orbex.
Myles Bax, commercial lead at Aurora Avionics said, “This deal is a real inflection point for our business. It is testament to the vision of Oren and CTO Rowland Fraser that we are now in a position to land significant contracts with leading players in the small launch sector.
