Rocket manufacturer Orbex is building Sutherland Spaceport with hopes to use the site to launch up to 12 orbital rockets per year.
The facility is also intended to become the first carbon-neutral spaceport in the world, both in its construction and its operation. As part of the efforts, peat that will be lifted during the construction will be re-used to repair large areas of peatland in other locations that have degraded over centuries.
The government hopes to grow the UK’s share of the global space market to 10 per cent by 2030. It aims to build multiple spaceports on the mainland, with a view to seeing commercial sub-orbital spaceflight and space tourism from UK spaceports.
The sector has had a rough start to 2023 after the first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the UK by Virgin Orbit failed spectacularly due to a dislodged fuel filter. The firm subsequently laid off most of its staff ahead of last-ditch buy-out talks.
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