 site on Lamba Ness | |||||||
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| Location | Lamba Ness, Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom | ||||||
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| Coordinates | 60°49′06″N0°46′09″W / 60.8184°N 0.7692°W | ||||||
| Operator | https://saxavord.com | ||||||
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SaxaVord Spaceport, previously known as Shetland Space Centre, [1] is a UK spaceport located on the Lamba Ness peninsula on Unst, the most northerly of the inhabited Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. The site is near the RAF Saxa Vord radar station and the settlement of Skaw.
A report from the UK Space Agency initially identified the site as offering clear northbound trajectories [a] for polar and sun-synchronous orbits, with the highest potential payload of any location in the UK. [2] [3]
Lockheed Martin initially expressed interest in flying their UK Pathfinder satellite launch system from the proposed spaceport. [4] [5] [6] [7] 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. [8] [9] The UK Pathfinder Launch programme is supported by £23.5 million of UK Space Agency grants. [10] [11]
The launch site is also planned to be used by HyImpulse Technologies, a German rocket maker, who were initially aiming for engine and suborbital testing by the end of 2021, with orbital launches originally hoped for by 2023. [12] In October 2021, Skyrora signed a multi-launch contract over the next decade for SaxaVord, originally intending to begin satellite launches in 2022. [13]
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 Lambda 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 SaxaVord complex, fuel storage facilities at Ordale Airport at Baltasound, and improvements to the launch site's approach roads. [14] [15]
On 29 March 2021, Historic Environment Scotland (HES), a statutory body, refused consent for the development of the spaceport on the grounds it would impact a scheduled monument of national significance – the Chain Home radar station at Skaw. [16] [17] The refusal of consent carried 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. [18] In January 2022, HES withdrew the objection, stating "We recognise the benefits that this development will bring to the community in Unst". [19]
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 as early as late 2023. [20]
In May 2023, spaceport CEO Frank Strang announced a new $137 million debt financing package during a UK Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee hearing. [21] [ needs update ] The source of the funding was not revealed.
On 28 July 2023, the Civil Aviation Authority granted HyImpulse permission to launch its SR75 suborbital sounding rocket for the first time from SaxaVord between 1 December 2023 and 30 November 2024. [22] HyImpulse subsequently moved the maiden flight of the SR75 to Koonibba Test Range in South Australia, citing delays to infrastructure at SaxaVord. [23] The Civil Aviation Authority announced on 17 December 2023 that SaxaVord had nevertheless been granted a spaceport licence "to host up to 30 launches a year", making it "the first fully licenced vertical spaceport in Western Europe." [24] [25]
In April 2024, the spaceport was granted a range licence by the Civil Aviation Authority. [26] In May 2024 Rocket Factory Augsburg's orbit-capable RFA One conducted an engine hotfire test at the spaceport site. [27]
On 19 August 2024, a static fire test of the RFA One first stage with all nine engines was conducted, on the stage that was slated to fly on the maiden flight of RFA One. The test experienced an anomaly that resulted in a fire, subsequent explosion, loss of the stage, and major damage to the launch mount. [28] [29]
In October 2024, UK rocket manufacturer Orbex announced their intention to mothball their proposed Sutherland spaceport on the Scottish mainland near Tongue and relocate planned launches to SaxaVord (citing its more advanced state of development). [30]
On 16 January 2025, the CAA granted a launch licence for the RFA One rocket to reach orbit, the first of its kind in the UK and Europe. This licence is limited to 10 launches per year as well as no more than two in any given month, and must give 60 days' notice for range safety purposes. [31]
The site is adjacent to the Saxa Vord distillery, which released spaceport-themed products in response. [32] [33]
The Guiana Space Centre, also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximately 500 kilometres north of the equator at a latitude of 5°. In operation since 1968, it is a suitable location for a spaceport because of its near equatorial location and open sea to the east and north.
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.
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the main commercial airport for Cornwall, England located at Mawgan in Pydar, 4 NM northeast of the town of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. Its runway was operated by RAF St Mawgan before 2008, and is now owned by Cornwall Council and operated by Cornwall Airport Ltd.
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 New Year's Day Storm, known in Scotland as the 'Hogmanay Hurricane', was an extremely powerful and record-breaking European windstorm, comparable to a category 4 major hurricane, 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 Harwell Campus near Didcot.
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 one of the first vertical launch capable spaceports 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. In December 2024, Orbex announced that the project had been put on hold.
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. Orbex may build its future launch complex, Sutherland spaceport, on the A' Mhòine peninsula in the county of Sutherland, northern Scotland, if and when deemed necessary.
Skyrora Ltd is a British private space company based in Glasgow, Scotland, since 2017, while its design and manufacturing facility is in Cumbernauld.
The Koonibba Test Range is a rocket test range site near the township of Koonibba in the far west of South Australia. Rockets are launched to the north over a clear area – the Yumbarra Conservation Park and Yellabinna Wilderness Protection Area – for 145 kilometres (90 mi).
A floating launch vehicle operations platform is a marine vessel used for launch or landing operations of an orbital launch vehicle by a launch service provider: putting satellites into orbit around Earth or another celestial body, or recovering first-stage boosters from orbital-class flights by making a propulsive landing on the platform.
Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) is a German NewSpace 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. As of November 2023, it had been scheduled to launch during the summer of 2024; however, an anomaly during a first stage static fire test in August 2024 resulted in destruction of the stage, and the launch has been postponed.
The RS1 is ABL Space Systems's main launch vehicle platform. Both stages are powered by ABL's E2 rocket engine, with nine to eleven in the first stage, and one in the second stage. They are powered by RP-1 or Jet-A kerosene as propellant and liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer.
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 country's 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, which has been referenced in some special-edition products.
RFA One is a small-lift multistage launch vehicle with an on-orbit transfer stage designed to transport small and micro-satellites of up to 1,300 kg into low-Earth polar and Sun-synchronous orbits. It has been in development by German private company Rocket Factory Augsburg since 2019.
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