The production of two Skyrora vehicles has already commenced at the site, which will increase up to 16 per year once mass production begins.
The firm said its new site boasts “unique capabilities” for space infrastructure in the UK, as certain tests that would typically be outsourced to facilities in other countries can now be conducted domestically. It is capable of conducting full-stage structural and pressure testing and full-stage functional and cold flow testing at the new facility.
Conducting these tests domestically saves time and costs, and will allow the maiden testing of the second stage of the Skyrora XL rocket to be performed from UK soil. This includes the assembly of the 70kN engine, which has been built using 3D-printed engine components.
The hot fire testing will see the second stage attached to a stand at the newly opened Midlothian test facility as the engine simulates a real launch. This enables telemetry data to be collected and analysed...