 Proposed site on Lamba Ness | |||||||
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| Location | Lamba Ness, Unst, Shetland, Scotland | ||||||
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| Coordinates | 60°49′06″N0°46′09″W / 60.8184°N 0.7692°W | ||||||
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SaxaVord Spaceport, previously known as Shetland Space Centre, [1] is a planned spaceport to be located on the Lamba Ness peninsula on Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands off of mainland Scotland. The proposed site is near the RAF Saxa Vord radar station and the settlement of Skaw, adjacent to the Saxa Vord distillery.
Lockheed Martin's UK Pathfinder satellite launch system may launch from this spaceport. [2] [3] [4] [5] The proposed launch vehicle under this programme is the RS1 from ABL Space Systems, a US-based company developing 27 m tall rockets capable of carrying payloads up to 1000 kg into a Sun-synchronous orbit. [6] [7] The UK Pathfinder Launch programme is supported by £23.5 million of UK Space Agency grants. [8] [9]
The launch site would also be used by HyImpulse Technologies, a German rocket maker aiming for engine and suborbital testing by the end of 2021, with orbital launches by 2023. [10]
In October 2021, Skyrora signed a multi-launch deal over the next decade for this site, hoping to start sending satellites into orbit within 2022. [11]
Plans for the spaceport were submitted to Shetland Islands Council by Farningham Planning in January 2021 to enable up to 30 launches per year. The proposal is for three rocket launch pads on Lamba Ness peninsula with additional infrastructure such as a satellite tracking facility, rocket hangars and integration facilities. The plans also document proposals for a Range Control Centre at the former RAF Saxa Vord complex, fuel storage facilities at Ordale Airport at Baltasound, and improvements to the launch site's approach roads. [12] [13]
On 29 March 2021, Historic Environment Scotland (HES), a statutory body, refused consent for the development on the grounds it would destroy a scheduled monument of national significance – the Chain Home radar station at Skaw. [14] [15] The refusal of consent carries significant legal weight, as it is a criminal offence to carry out works to a scheduled monument without such authorisation. Due to the almost one-to-one overlap of the monument location with the proposed spaceport, this refusal led to concerns being voiced about the viability of the spaceport project. [16] In January 2022, HES withdrew the objection, stating "We recognise the benefits that this development will bring to the community in Unst". [17]
In January 2023, German company Rocket Factory Augsburg signed a multi-year launch agreement which would give exclusive access to the northernmost launch pad of the spaceport, Launch Pad Fredo, with testing of the RFA One core stage beginning in mid-2023 and a first launch scheduled in late 2023. [18]
In May 2023, spaceport CEO Frank Strang announced a new $137 million debt financing package during a UK Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee hearing. [19] The source of the funding was not revealed.
On 28 July 2023, the United Kingdom's UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) granted HyImpulse permission to launch its SR75 rocket for the first time from SaxaVord between 1 December 2023 and 30 November 2024. [20] The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced on 17 December 2023 that SaxaVord had been granted a spaceport licence "to host up to 30 launches a year", making it "the first fully licensed vertical spaceport in Western Europe." [21] [22]
Unst is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Mainland and Yell. It has an area of 46 sq mi (120 km2).
Remote Radar Head Saxa Vord or RRH Saxa Vord, is a Royal Air Force radar station located on the island of Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. As of July 2019 it is once more a fully operational radar station, after closure in 2006. The station's motto Praemoneo de Periculis reflects its role. RAF Saxa Vord is further north than Saint Petersburg in Russia, and on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. The station was named after Saxa Vord, which is the highest hill on Unst at 935 ft (285 m). It holds the unofficial British record for wind speed, which in 1992 was recorded at 197 mph (317 km/h) — just before the measuring equipment blew away.
Skaw is a settlement in the Scottish archipelago of Shetland, located on the island of Unst. It is located north of Haroldswick on a peninsula in the northeast corner of the island, and is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom. It is currently inhabited by a single inhabitant whose business is sheep farming.
Satish Dhawan Space Centre – SDSC, is the primary spaceport of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The British space programme is the British government's work to develop British space capabilities. The objectives of the current civil programme are to "win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens."
The Valhalla Brewery in Unst, Shetland, Scotland, was the northernmost brewery in the United Kingdom. It was opened by the husband and wife team Sonny and Silvia Priest in December 1997, and originally based in a large shed in Baltasound, in the centre of Unst. In 2012 the brewery moved to a building at the former RAF Saxa Vord radar station, near Haroldswick. This larger premises allowed the brewery to double production to 144,000 litres a year.
The New Year's Day Storm, known in Scotland as the 'Hogmanay Hurricane', was an intense European windstorm that affected much of northern Scotland and western Norway on 1 January 1992. DNMI estimated the strongest sustained winds and the strongest gusts to have reached 103 mph and 138 mph, respectively. Unofficial records of gusts in excess of 170 knots (87 m/s) were recorded in Shetland, while Statfjord-B in the North Sea recorded wind gusts in excess of 145 knots (75 m/s). There were very few fatalities, mainly due to the rather low population of the islands, the fact that the islanders are used to powerful winds, and because it struck in the morning on a public holiday when people were indoors. In Norway there was one fatality, in Frei, Møre og Romsdal county. There were also two fatalities on Unst in the Shetland Isles. Despite being referred to by some as a 'Hurricane', the storm was Extratropical in origin and is classified as an Extratropical Cyclone.
The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and took over responsibility for government policy and key budgets for space exploration; it represents the United Kingdom in all negotiations on space matters. The Agency "[brings] together all UK civil space activities under one single management". It is based at the former BNSC headquarters in Swindon, Wiltshire.
The Holm of Skaw is a small islet off the northeast coast of the island of Unst. It is just northeast of the settlement of Skaw. The island is 57 feet (17 m) in height. There is a lighthouse on the island. Tidal currents are slack between Holm of Skaw and Herma Ness at high water, and the passage may be made by small boats. The Skaw Röst, a dangerous tidal race, forms off the shore of the Holm of Skaw and Lamba Ness.
Spaceport Camden is a licensed spaceport in Camden County, Georgia, near the city of Woodbine. The site tested the largest solid rocket motor ever fired as part of the Apollo Program and Camden County, Georgia was originally considered as a NASA launch site in the 1960s. Spaceport Camden began limited development as a rocket launch facility in early 2014, with its first launch taking place in August 2017, reaching 5,000 ft (1,524 m).
The Sutherland spaceport, also known as Space Hub Sutherland or UK Vertical Launch (UKVL) Sutherland, is a planned spaceport to be located in Sutherland in Scotland. It would be the first vertical launch capable spaceport in the United Kingdom, and operated by a commercial entity. The spaceport is intended to support the Orbex Prime launch vehicle. The spaceport will be located on the A' Mhòine peninsula northwest of Tongue village, Sutherland, Scotland. Groundbreaking occurred on 5 May 2023.
Orbital Express Launch Ltd., or Orbex, is a United Kingdom-based aerospace company that is developing a small commercial orbital rocket called Prime. Orbex is headquartered in Forres, Moray, in Scotland and has subsidiaries in Denmark and Germany. Its future launch complex, Sutherland spaceport, is being built on the A' Mhòine peninsula in the county of Sutherland, northern Scotland.
Skyrora Ltd is a British private space company based in Edinburgh, Scotland, since 2017.
This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2025.
ABL Space Systems is an American aerospace and launch service provider, based in El Segundo, California, that manufactures deployable launch vehicles and infrastructure for sending commercial small satellites into orbit. The company manufactures its components in the United States.
Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) is a German New Space start-up located in Augsburg. It was founded in 2018 with the mission to build rockets just like cars. Its multistage rocket, RFA One, is currently under development and scheduled to launch in the summer of 2024.
In May 2021, the Space industry of Scotland consisted of 173 space companies operating across Scotland. These include spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, downstream data analyzers, and research organisations. Space Scotland, the countries space agency, said that the space industry in Scotland contributes in excess of £4 billion to the Scottish economy.
HyImpulse is a German private space launch enterprise headquartered in Neuenstadt am Kocher and developing a small launch vehicle designed around hybrid-propellant rockets. The company is a DLR spinoff founded in 2018 out of the chemical propulsion center of the German space agency's Lampoldshausen facility. HyImpulse is bankrolled by Rudolf Schwarz, chairman of German technology company IABG.
Saxa Vord distillery is a Scotch whisky and gin distillery on the island of Unst, part of the Shetland islands. The distillery takes its name from its location immediately south of RAF Saxa Vord, an RAF station and headland. The distillery buildings are adjacent to the SaxaVord Spaceport.
Coastal fortifications in Scotland played a vital role during the World Wars, protecting shipping as they mustered to convoy. New fortifications were built and old defences were also rebuilt or strengthened around the Scottish coast in case of invasion. New technologies like Radar were also deployed.
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