Space - Alvorlig konkurrent til Andøya Space - SaxaVord Spaceport - BBC

 

Rocket launch from Shetland spaceport announced for next year

 

15 November 2023

Share

PA Media

A mock-up of a rocket launch from SaxaVord Spaceport

The timetable for what could be the first rocket launch from Shetland's SaxaVord spaceport has been set out.

German rocket firm Hylmpulse will attempt sub-orbital launches - flights that are not fast enough to stay in outer space - from August 2024.

Full orbital launches will take place from 2025, according to a letter signed by Hylmpulse and the spaceport.

The site has still to be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority but hopes to be commercially operational by 2030.

·         New funding for Shetland spaceport project

·         We built a spaceport on a Scottish island

·         Bronze Age discovery made at spaceport site

A number of companies are also working to launch rockets from the site in the coming years.

Hylmpulse Technologies was due to have its inaugural launch at Unst this year, but the move was delayed as infrastructure at the spaceport was not ready.

Another German company, Rocket Factory Ausburg (RFA), is also planning an orbital launch early next year, followed by a Lockheed Martin/ABL Space Systems launch later in 2024.

RFA UK, a subsidiary of the German firm, was recently awarded £3.5m from the UK Space Agency to support rocket launch preparations.

The spaceport is situated on the UK's most northerly inhabited island, home to fewer than 700 people.

Once operational it will carry small satellites into space.

RFA UK

The first rocket launches from SaxaVord Spaceport are expected next year