Alba Orbital

Alba Orbital is Glasgow's pioneering PocketQube satellite manufacturer and operator, founded in 2012 by Tom Walkinshaw and Chris Larmour as the world's first commercial PocketQube company. PocketQubes measure just 5×5×5 cm per unit (one-eighth the volume of a 1U CubeSat), enabling radically lower mass and cost for LEO missions. Alba developed the Unicorn-2 series of 2P PocketQubes for automatic identification system (AIS) ship tracking, providing maritime domain awareness data commercially.

Their Cluster-2 rideshare deployer — manifested on SpaceX Transporter and Rocket Lab launches — allows multiple PocketQubes to share a single launch slot, making orbital access accessible to universities and early-stage startups with budgets under $100K. The company supplies standardized PocketQube platforms (1P through 6P) with integrated solar panels, attitude control, UHF/VHF radio, and on-board computers, enabling rapid six-to-twelve month build cycles.

Alba has deployed constellations for IoT sensor data collection and maritime monitoring and works with academic institutions globally to fly first-ever national satellites at minimal cost. With the sub-kilogram satellite market growing as launch prices fall and miniaturized electronics improve, Alba Orbital sits at the forefront of a tier below standard CubeSat providers, competing with GomSpace and NanoAvionics on price and simplicity while targeting a distinct ultra-small form factor niche.