Leading the way: Preparing to enter the space industry

Unst can legitimately claim to be Shetland’s ‘final frontier’. It’s the most northerly inhabited island in the UK, two ferry crossings away from the Shetland Mainland, and with only the ocean northwards until you reach the Arctic.

So, it’s fitting that Unst should become home to another path to the final frontier, namely, space. A vertical launch spaceport, with three launch pads, is situated at Saxa Vord, one of the island’s most northerly peninsulas. Formerly home to an RAF base, which closed in 2006, the area now plays host to, arguably, one of Shetland’s most ambitious projects in decades.

If the estimates are accurate, the benefits of this bold project will reach far beyond the environs of Unst, and Shetland.

SaxaVord Spaceport is expected to generate almost £5m gross value added (GVA), and 139 jobs to Unst alone. It is anticipated to bring £7.5m GVA and 209 jobs to across Shetland, when operational.

And the spaceport estimates that it will bring £9.3 million GVA and 255 jobs to Scotland.

The Unst site was bought by entrepreneur Frank Strang shortly after its closure as an airbase. Saxa Vord was identified as the prime location in the UK for satellite launches back in 2018.

Shetland Space Centre was created to seize the advantage of that opportunity and has worked incredibly hard to prove these islands could host a spaceport.

Getting to the point where it became a fully-fledged reality was not without its challenges, roadblocks and hiccups. At times, it seemed like the space dream was going to be just that, a dream.

But in May 2024 – driven by the determination and steel of its founding entrepreneur – the re-named SaxaVord Spaceport held its official opening, becoming the UK’s first vertical spaceport.

When operational, SaxaVord will be able to send up to 30 rockets a year into orbit, with the first launch now expected in 2026.

Sadly, Frank Strang will not be here to witness the culmination of years of dedication and graft. He passed away in August 2025, aged 67, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly beforehand.

His deputy chief executive, Scott Hammond, worked with Frank throughout the inception and planning process to get SaxaVord to where it is today.

Hammond has taken over the top role at SaxaVord, and he said it was a monumental accomplishment that Unst was now home to such an incredible project.

“It is a major achievement to have created a fully functional spaceport at Saxa,” he said, “from the planning permission to the unprecedented consent from Historic Environment Scotland to build on a site of historic interest, not to mention the arduous tasks of gaining our spaceport and range licences from the UK regulator for space, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

“Given its geography, SaxaVord is one of the few ideal locations in Europe, indeed the world, for a spaceport seeking to launch small satellites into polar and sun-synchronous low earth orbits.”

SaxaVord is working with two rocket firms to prepare for launch: Forres-based Orbex and German company Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA).

RFA looks set to carry out the first vertical rocket launch from the UK, and possibly Europe, next year – with a 30-metre tall rocket set to be launched from Unst.

As well as that, SaxaVord and RFA have pledged to support the launch of intelligence gathering and monitoring satellites to help strengthen the UK and Germany’s defence capabilities.

Hammond explained where SaxaVord is at as it prepares for that first launch.

“SaxaVord Spaceport is now fully established, with both spaceport and range licenses and all the appropriate infrastructure – launch stool, integration hangar, tracking and telemetry system – in place for a first test flight by our client RFA.

“Additional pads are under construction for other Saxa clients.

“There is no firm date for a first test flight – it may be later in 2025, or into 2026. That is in RFA’s hands, but the message from Saxa is that we are ready.”

The SaxaVord chief said they were “already leading the way” for the space industry in the UK.

Getting the project to where it is today was no mean feat and was only achieved because the spaceport was able to utilise Shetland’s construction industry and supply chain to ensure they were ready for launch.

We could not have built the spaceport without the support of local businesses, from Unst Plant and Sandisons in Unst itself, to transport operators, equipment suppliers and construction companies based both in the North Isles and on the Shetland Mainland

Hammond paid tribute to them, saying they would not be where they were without them.

“We could not have built the spaceport without the support of local businesses, from Unst Plant and Sandisons in Unst itself, to transport operators, equipment suppliers and construction companies based both in the North Isles and on the Shetland Mainland,” he added.

Asked what he hoped the future of the spaceport will look like, and what its legacy will be, Hammond said a bright future lies ahead for SaxaVord.

“[We want to be] Europe’s leading spaceport, successfully delivering small satellite payloads into low earth orbit on behalf of a range of clients on a consistent basis and fulfilling our role as the missing link in the chain for our domestic satellite industry,” he said.

The satellite industry was “already very mature”, he added, but currently had to look outside the UK to get its hardware into orbit.

Through enormous determination and against all odds, it looks like Shetland is going to be at the forefront of the European space race, and leading the way for years to come.

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