ON February 22, 2019, David Mackay made history by becoming the first Scottish astronaut.
Launching from Mojave, California, the Highland man was aboard the VSS Unity – then the flagship vessel in Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic fleet.
And now, history is about to be made again, if all goes to plan of course – albeit in Scotland, rather than by a Scot.
The German firm which aims to be the first to launch a satellite from the most northerly tip in the UK – Saxavord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands – was officially licensed for spaceflight by the regulator last week.
The decision from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the final significant piece of regulatory approval needed for Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) to start making plans for Scotland to be the site of Europe’s first-ever vertical rocket launch into space.
The Sunday National spoke with some of the German firm’s leadership team about what the decision means as well as their future plans.
“This is a groundbreaking moment for RFA, for Europe’s and eventually also Scotland's space industry,” RFA CEO Stefan Tweraser (below) told the Sunday National.
“Securing the first-ever launch licence outside ESA’s established site in Kourou is not just a regulatory milestone – it’s a powerful endorsement of our technical excellence and a turning point for European space innovation.”
He added: “This license – which allows us to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport 10 times each year – marks Europe’s bold step toward independent, competitive and sustainable space access.”
Known as RFA One, the unmanned launcher is a 30m-tall three-stage rocket which can deliver a 1300kg payload to a sun-synchronous orbit around Earth.
During a static fire test last year, the first stage of the initial rocket caught fire and exploded, meaning plans for the first launch to take place in 2024 were pushed back.
RFA’s first test flight is now planned for later in 2025.
“The main priority now is to carry out the two test flights and successfully reach orbit,” Tweraser said.
“The next step will then be to commence commercial flights and increase the launch frequency. At the same time, the ESA's European Launcher Challenge gives us the opportunity to further develop our rocket and operations – to industrialise production, increase launch cadence and possibly develop a larger, even more capable version.”
The Sunday National also spoke with Jonas Kellner, RFA spokesperson and head of marketing and political affairs.
We asked about the company’s larger ambitions in the future, including what this “larger, even more capable version” could entail.
He said that while RFA One is unmanned, the dream could be to eventually bring humans into space.
“There’s not really specific plans," he was keen to stress.
"But we are dreaming – of course. I mean that's the ultimate challenge, right, to create and build a vehicle that is human-rated and can bring humans to space and bring them back safely as well.”
And could it be a Scot? Well, time can only tell but Kellner was very optimistic about Scotland’s space industry, both now and in the future – which was, indeed, a huge factor in RFA choosing Saxavord.
“Scotland has indeed a big footprint in the space industry, not only in regard to spaceports where there are also multiple,” he said.
“But also Glasgow is one of the highest satellite manufacturers by density. So, Scotland is definitely a key player in the European space environment.”
It’s a sentiment that was echoed by Scottish business minister Richard Lochhead upon receipt of the licensing news.
“This is a momentous moment for Scotland’s space sector. Not only can Scotland manufacture satellites, but now we are well on our way to launching them and providing expert analysis of the data they subsequently provide,” he said.
“I congratulate the SaxaVord team in Shetland and Rocket Factory Augsburg, both of which are now on course to host the first commercial launch of its kind in Europe.
“More broadly I want to pay tribute to Scotland’s space entrepreneurs who have made this country one of Europe’s leading space nations."
