SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland says it now has seven clients competing for launch windows with construction work at the Lamba Ness site on Unst ahead of schedule.
The spaceport is vying to host the UK’s first vertical rocket launches to deliver small satellites into orbit from Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands.
Earlier this month the first concrete base for a launch stool at the Lamba Ness site in Unst was completed and rocket stage testing is expected to start early next year.
Two of the three approved launchpads – Fredo and Elizabeth – are being developed in the first phase of construction, with the third, Calum, to be built in phase two.
Preparation work is now under way on the first building where rockets will be assembled and their small satellite payloads for low earth, sun-synchronous or polar orbits will be integrated.
30 rocket launches per year
The spaceport is proposing up to 30 launches per year during a 30-year period from Unst, comprising both orbital and sub-orbital ones.
A total of £19 million, all privately raised, has been spent on the project to date, including £9m on public road improvements from the community of Haroldswick up towards the 81-hectare site.
Construction work, which is employing more than 60 people on-site, started at the end of March this year.
Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) this month launched a consultation to seek views on SaxaVord’s assessment of the environmental effects of the spaceport.
As part of this process, Saxavord had to submit an assessment of environmental effects (AEE) which set out plans for a “no-launch” window between mid-May and late June each year “to avoid disturbing birds during the critical incubation and early brooding period”.
Otters will also be protected by creating “additional holts and shelters, many with soundproofing from turfs” to give the animals a place to hide from the noise of launches and warning sirens.
The consultation closes on December 8.
‘Space history will be made here in Shetland’
SaxaVord Spaceport CEO Frank Strang said: “Our progress has been phenomenal, despite major constraints and significant challenges on a daily basis.
“It is a testament to the huge efforts of our spaceport team, main contractor DITT and sub-contractors such as Unst Plant, a local company created specifically to work on our project.
“More new space history will be made here in Shetland next spring and summer, with the first sub-orbital vertical launches from the UK, followed by vertical orbital launches later in the year. Alongside the horizontal launch from Cornwall, this will put the UK firmly on the international spaceflight stage.
We are ahead of schedule”
SaxaVord Spaceport CEO Frank Strang
“We now have seven clients all vying for launch windows – and the good news is we are ahead of schedule, meaning 2023 is going to be a hugely exciting year.”
Estimated spend on the project is “upwards of £43m” rising to £100m in the next five years.
Unst is UK’s highest point of latitude
SaxaVord Spaceport notes as Unst is the UK’s highest point of latitude, it can offer customers a geographic competitive advantage concerning payloads per satellite, launch site operations, a network of ground stations, as well as in-orbit data collection and analysis.
News of the CAA consultation on SaxaVord comes after this summer’s talks between the potential space operator and the North East Scotland Green Freeport (NESGF) bid ahead of what is thought to be an imminent decision by the UK and Scottish Governments on where to place the country’s two green freeports.
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