On 26 January, I published the first part of the Why Did the UK Abandon Orbex series, in which I promised a part two following the outcome of a Freedom of Information request I had submitted. While I am still waiting for that request to be processed, a document recently published by the UK government felt significant enough to warrant a short supplementary piece to the series, which I’m calling Part 1.5.

As a side note, the first exclusive interview of the year for my paid subscribers will be published on Monday, 9 February. The interview is with Rocket Factory Augsburg’s relatively new CEO, Indulis Kalnins.

Before diving in, a brief recap of Part 1 would probably be useful.

In January 2025, the UK government appeared fully committed to Orbex, backing the company with a £20 million investment and publicly framing it as the centrepiece of a sovereign British launch capability. Ministers and agency leadership spoke confidently about British rockets, British sa…