Orbital Exploration Technologies, Inc., also known as Orbital Exploration or OrbitX, is a Philippine

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

and space transportation company.

History

OrbitX was established on June 2, 2019 as OrbX, a private venture by a group of youth including Dexter Baño Jr., Enzo Victor, and Paulo Sairel. OrbitX's short term goal is to develop the first indigenous

reusable rocket Reusability is a term in computer science. Reusability may also refer to: *The quality of being fit for reuse *Reusable packaging Reusable packaging is manufactured of durable materials and is specifically designed for multiple trips and extended ...

, and the long-term goal is to send the first Filipino to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and back. OrbitX is known as the Philippines' first commercial

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such ...

company. Its first flagship project is the Haribon SLS-1

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

. OrbitX started a

crowdfunding campaign Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial ...

which received support from Southeast Asian firm and Genix Ventures and other private individuals. It also received a two-year funding of $6,500 for research purposes from the

Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon that provides Software as a service, on-demand cloud computing computing platform, platforms and Application programming interface, APIs to individuals, companies, and gover ...

Projects

Haribon SLS-1

OrbitX is developing its own space launch vehicle which it dubs as the Haribon SLS-1. It is to be propelled using components also to be developed by OrbitX: Tamaraw Rocket Engine and RP-2 fuel, a plastic-derived fuel. RP-2 gets its named from

RP-1 RP-1 (Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) and similar fuels like RG-1 and T-1 are highly refined kerosene formulations used as rocket fuel. Liquid-fueled rockets that use RP-1 as fuel are known as kerolox rockets. In their engines, RP- ...

, the refined kerosene that is typically used in rockets. As of January 2021, the project is in the Technology Readiness Level 4 phase of development with its components still being validated in a laboratory environment. It is projected to carry a payload of into

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

. The company plans to have the maiden launch of the Haribon SLS-1 sometime between 2023 and 2024.

Fuels

Among OrbitX's research is the potential use of

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

as biofuel for both small and large-scale space launch vehicles. The company has noted that algae-derived biofuel has already had prior used on aircraft; particularly in a Houston–Chicago

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

flight. It is also developing, OrbitX RP-2, its own proprietary fuel derived from

pyrolysis Pyrolysis is a process involving the Bond cleavage, separation of covalent bonds in organic matter by thermal decomposition within an Chemically inert, inert environment without oxygen. Etymology The word ''pyrolysis'' is coined from the Gree ...

-processed waste plastic.

Orbital Coin (ORBX)

On February 10, 2021, OrbitX teased about their in-house cryptocurrency. On February 12, 2021, OrbitX announced the cryptocurrency named Orbital Coin or ORBX, as they'll also fund the rocket using their in-house cryptocurrency. On July 5, 2021, OrbitX announced their

initial coin offering An initial coin offering (ICO) or initial currency offering is a type of funding using cryptocurrencies. It is often a form of crowdfunding, although a private ICO which does not seek public investment is also possible. In an ICO, a quantity of c ...

, as scheduled on July 20. ORBX was developed by ProofSys.io and OrbitX.

Cooperation

OrbitX relays its findings and developments to the

Philippine Space Agency The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) is the national space agency of the Philippines. The unified space agency is defined by the Philippine Space Act (Republic Act No. 11363) which was signed into law on August 8, 2019, by President Rodrigo Dut ...

(PhilSA), the national space agency of the

Philippine government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...

, although OrbitX itself is a private venture and is independent from PhilSA. It also has partnerships and affiliations with the Space4Impact and Space Impulse, the Green Party of the Philippines, the

Polytechnic University of the Philippines The Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP; ) is a public, coeducational, research university in Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippines. It was founded on 19 October 1904, as the Manila Business School (MBS) and as part of Manila's public sch ...

, and the government's

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR; ) is the Executive Departments of the Philippines, executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the cou ...

References

{{Philippine space program 2019 establishments in the Philippines Aerospace companies of the Philippines Private spaceflight companies Spacecraft manufacturers Biofuel producers Algal fuel producers Science and technology in the Philippines Companies based in Quezon City Crowdfunding projects Philippine companies established in 2019 Privately held companies of the Philippines