Alba Orbital
Overview
Alba Orbital is a Scottish company that specializes in designing and building PocketQube satellites and Albapod satellite deployers. The company has developed two satellite platforms. The Unicorn-1 platform is a 1P PocketQube satellite, while its larger counterpart, Unicorn-2, is a 3P satellite. Albapod deployers come in two sizes: 6P and 96P.History
The company was founded by Tom Walkinshaw in 2012.Earth Observation Service
As of 2025 Alba have started publishing images collected on their Unicorn-2 satellite constellation.Launch Broker and Rideshare Services
Alba Orbital a satellite launch broker, purchasing capacity from launch service providers, including SpaceX and Rocket Lab. to carry Albapod deployer clusters 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.
Interstellar Communication Holdings signed a rideshare agreement with Alba Orbital to assist in the launch of its icMercury PocketQube satellite via SpaceX to be launched in early 2025.
| Mission Name | Date | Launch Vehicle | Payloads | Customers | Deployment Outcome |
| Alba Cluster 2 | 6 December 2019 | Electron |  SuccessFundingIn 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. |