Space rockets and sustainability are designed to go hand in hand at what could become the UK’s first vertical rocket launch site, in the Scottish Highlands.
Rocket launch startup, Orbex, which is based in Forres, near Inverness, has today signed a 50-year lease for a 10-acre site further north in the region of Sutherland, where a spaceport is being developed on land that was formerly used for peat harvesting.
Two weeks after raising £40mln from new and existing investors, the company has taken over the development of Sutherland spaceport in order to oversee the completion of construction and then take on management of the facility.
Orbex chief executive Chris Larmour said this made it the first European launcher company to also manage a dedicated spaceport.
“It is an important competitive advantage to the company, which will make it really easy for us to work with customers as we scale up our operations.”
Larmour and his team are working towards the company's lightweight Prime ‘micro-launcher’ rocket, where a recent unveiling confirmed 3D-printed engines will be powered by biofuel and the two-stage 19-metre design is built to leave "zero debris on Earth and in orbit", blasting off for the first time from Sutherland next year, with up to 12 orbital rocket launches per year carrying satellites into low Earth orbit.
NASA contractor Jacobs Solutions Inc (NYSE:J), which took part in the Series C funding round last month, will be the prime construction contractor on behalf of Orbex for the spaceport.
Jacobs, which manages the Kennedy Space Center for NASA at Cape Canaveral and works locally providing decommissioning and remediation at the Dounreay nuclear site, will provide spaceport operations support, operations consultancy, and engineering services.
Total private investment over the initial three-year period is expected to reach £20mln, Orbex said, with up to 40 on-site technical and non-technical jobs to support the operation and maintenance of the site, with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) estimating the support of up 250 jobs in the wider area, including manufacturing, supply chain, research and service provision.
Bog rocket
Sutherland is aiming to be the UK's first operational 'vertical' spaceport – with Spaceport Cornwall expected to host the first of its planned 'horizontal' rocket launches from Virgin Orbit this month.
Scotland could have two spaceports by next year, with SaxaVord on the Shetland Islands booked for its maiden launch by another Scotland-based rocket developer, Skyrora, next year (following a disappointing recent test in Iceland).
The spaceport is located on a community-owned crofters’ estate on the A’ Mhoine peninsula in north-west Sutherland, which has been used widely for peat harvesting over many years.
The land for the spaceport has been leased to development agency HIE, with Orbex taking a sub-lease.
Sutherland Spaceport is intended to become the world’s greenest spaceport, both in terms of its construction and its operation, with the buildings designed to be carbon-neutral and blend in with the natural environment.
As well as Orbex’s reusable rockets and renewable biofuel called bio-propane, the agency said peat lifted during construction will be used to restore significant areas of peatland that have been damaged by past activity.
The site was chosen by HIE after an “exhaustive study” of the alternatives in the UK as it avoids environmentally-sensitive areas, with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and NatureScot accepting the plans after a two-year environmental impact assessment study, as the location avoids disturbing any cultural heritage sites, protected wildlife reserves and sensitive wildlife breeding grounds.
Planning permission was granted by the Highland Council in August 2020. A separate development application to the Scottish Land Court – which was required as the launch site is on crofting land – was also successful.
Karen Wiemelt, SVP of Jacobs Energy, Security and Technology, said the Orbex Prime rocket “promises to be a game changer for small satellite developers and operators, enabling them to launch light satellites much more efficiently and cost-effectively” and the Sutherland Spaceport “an important development for the European space industry and will bring major economic and social benefits to North Highland and Moray”.
Ian Annett, deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, said the lease was “fantastic news” for the company and wider UK space sector.
“I’m confident that this new agreement will allow Orbex to strengthen the UK’s position as the leading destination in Europe for commercial spaceflight services and international investment.”
From left: David Oxley, director of strategic projects, Highlands and Islands Enterprise; Dorothy Pritchard, chair of the Melness Crofters Estate, Orbex CEO Chris Larmour