https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/l...port-ptgbp596l
Lift-off for Shetland as island wins race for UK spaceport
A remote Scottish island has won the race to be the home of the UK’s first spaceport.
Unst, on the northern tip of Shetland, is now the top choice by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and the US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin for a commercial rocket launch site. The first launch, carrying small satellites into low Earth orbit, is set to take place next year if planning permission is given. The move is seen a major advance for Britain’s ambitions to be a key player in the burgeoning space industry.
An announcement about Shetland is due to be made later this month by the official bodies involved in the multimillion-pound project, dashing the hopes of rivals across the country.
John Neilson, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin, which was awarded £23.5 million by the UKSA to identify and develop a vertical-launch site in Britain, said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with the UK Space Agency and partners, including both Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Shetland Space Centre, to deliver a first vertical satellite launch from Scotland. Its mission will be to collect data from space that will help drive economic growth across the country.”
The news of Shetland’s success will come as a particularly heavy blow for those behind a rival £17.3 million scheme in the Highlands. It is only two months since Space Hub Sutherland
received planning permission for their project.
It is understood Lockheed Martin will continue to work with the Sutherland site but is in the process of transferring the bulk of its business interests and grant funding to Shetland. Mr Neilson said: “With a project of this complexity, we continually review our plans to maximise the chance of mission success.”
It is understood the decision to focus on Shetland follows tests which showed that more than twice as many rockets, carrying a wider range of payloads, could be launched from Unst compared with Sutherland, which would be limited to 12 per year. Industry sources have said Lockheed Martin now sees the facilities as being complementary and suited for launches of different types for different clients.
A full planning application for the Shetland Space Centre is expected to go before the local authority within the next two months for three launch pads at Lamba Ness and Saxa Vord — one to be operated by Lockheed Martin and two smaller ones to be used by other interested companies. It is understood the local landowner and crofters have given the project their backing, as has the 600-strong island community.
Sutherland residents are divided over their spaceport plans and the threat to peatland and
wildlife on the A’Mhoine peninsula. Scotland’s largest private landowner, Anders Povlsen, whose Wildland Limited company has estates nearby, has
threatened legal action if the project, by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, goes ahead.