Elon Musk’s latest SpaceX adventure has taken off from Florida, with a ground station in Shetland providing vital support for a precious piece of cargo.
The Falcon 9 rocket – part of multibillionaire Musk‘s space programme – blasted off from Cape Canaveral carrying more than 100 small satellites.
One of these is the Gossamer Piccolomini, created and developed by US aerospace firm Lunasonde and it turned to SaxaVord UK Spaceport on Unst for some expert support.
SaxaVord won the contract to provide launch and early operation support for Lunasonde’s low-frequency radar system, which uses pioneering subsurface imaging for detecting and monitoring exploitable resources.
“We kick off 2022 as we mean to go forward, with the Lunasonde contract a tremendous achievement for the team here.”
Jacques Meheut, SaxaVord UK Spaceport.
The Shetland space port was also tasked with continuing to support the satellite at low earth orbit, by downlinking crucial data and new mission updates.
The Falcon 9 rocket launch
Lunasonde is naming all of its satellites after craters on the moon.
Shetland’s space port team are counting down to the UK’s first vertical satellite launches from Unst.
They, together with US aerospace, arms, defence, information security and technology giant Lockheed Martin, are aiming for take-off during 2022, subject to planning permission.
SaxaVord UK Spaceport ground station network manager Jacques Meheut said: “Last year was a busy year… amid the challenges posed by Covid restrictions.
“We kick off 2022 as we mean to go forward, with the Lunasonde contract a tremendous achievement for the team here.”
Lunasonde chief executive Jeremiah Pate said: “We are very excited to work with SaxaVord UK Spaceport to support our first satellite.
“The SaxaVord ground station is invaluable to collecting our first data from orbit.”
UK first looms for Unst
The UK Government-backed project to send satellites into space from Unst, which is the most northerly of the inhabited British Isles, is expected to create hundreds of jobs.
It is aimed at delivering the first vertical small satellite launch from UK soil and also the first commercial launch in Britain for US-based ABL Space Systems’ new RS-1 rocket.
SaxaVord UK Spaceport – named after the highest hill on Unst – was itself launched in 2017, as Shetland Space Centre.
The company is working closely with its community and Shetland Islands Council to ensure minimum impact and maximum benefit from what is expected to be a major new sector of the local economy.
Rocket man on board as Shetland space project gets ready for take-off
Space no longer a final frontier as Scots’ projects take off
SaxaVord UK Spaceport also has a multi-launch deal with Scottish firm Skyrora to fire rockets into space from Shetland over the next decade.
Edinburgh-based Skyrora aims to start sending its 75ft long, 56-tonne XL rocket to deliver satellites into orbit this year.
It recently won £2.5 million of co-funding from the European Space Agency and hopes its agreement with SaxaVord UK Spaceport will help it deliver up to 16 launches a year by 2030.
