A MORAY space company has made public their intention to launch satellites from a mothballed spaceport in the Highlands.
Forres-based firm Orbex seeks to return to Sutherland Spaceport after the company left the partially built site last year. The move was made in a bid to focus on development of its Prime spacecraft, which Orbex plans to launch from Shetland.
The Forres-based firm announced it was to “pause” its construction work to instead launch its first wave of small commercial satellites from the rival site at SaxaVord in Shetland.
The company has now clarified that it now foresees both sites being deployed, with mobilisation work at the Sutherland site set to resume from 2027.
It had previously been preparing to launch from its own base at A’ Mhoine this summer, the first of an expected 12 orbital rockets per year carrying commercial satellites into Earth’s orbit.
The revised timescale effectively means a three-year delay in the construction of the spaceports, but revives the prospect of 40 new jobs being created by the scheme, which is a key part of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)’s masterplan for the Tongue/Melness area.
The UK Space Agency gave £2.5 million to HIE to develop the scheme, with the enterprise agency and the Scottish Government having between them committed nearly £9m.
However, the latest promises were not enough to appease Trudy Morris. The Caithness Chamber of Commerce chief executive said it was “unacceptable” that the site had been left mothballed with no guarantee that Orbex would return in the timescale suggested.
A spokesperson for the company told The Northern Scot: “We can confirm that Orbex’s current business plan and launch schedule estimates that capacity at Sutherland Spaceport would be required from 2028 at the earliest (with construction requiring to restart in 2027).
“This is why Orbex intends to fulfil its lease and planning obligations and keep the spaceport’s development under constant review.
“We will be able to launch 10 times per year from SaxaVord Spaceport and will have exclusive use of our own dedicated launch complex.”
Orbex has made clear it does not foresee any other use being made of the site in the meantime.
“Allowing another launch operator to sub-let at Sutherland Spaceport would introduce significant complexities and cost into Orbex’s business plan without offering substantial long-term benefits beyond addressing a medium-term gap,” said the spokesperson.
“In addition, there are no operational micro-launchers in Europe at the moment, so we do not think this would be in the best interest of the spaceport.
“We believe such a deviation would be detrimental to Orbex’s long-term success and consequently to the broader success of the space industry in the north of Scotland.”
The Sutherland Spaceport became a live prospect when HIE received £2.5m from the UK Space Agency in 2018 to create the facility. The Scottish Government and HIE have invested nearly £9m in the project.
The December announcement was described as a "hammer blow" by one local councillor that "came out of the blue".
Cllr Struan Mackie previously said: “It has left us in a pretty sorry state. Everybody on the political spectrum up here agreed that this a good development for the region.
“You had your MSPs, MPs, and councillors all working hand in glove to try and get this over the line. If you look at all the hurdles that were put in front of it, and were cleared by the spaceport.
“To then see what looks like a pure business decision being the thing that’s derailed it … that’s what is most disappointing about it.”
