You know what goes really well with a spaceport? How about a rocket to launch from there?
That’s exactly what the U.K. is missing from their newly approved SaxaVord Spaceport, located on the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands. This approval is unique, because the U.K. currently doesn’t possess their own vertical launch spaceship, although a number of companies are currently developing their own rockets including ABL Space Systems, HyImpulse, Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) and Skyrora.
SaxaVord won’t be the only spaceport in the U.K for long. Sutherland Spaceport in northern Scotland is being developed, although as usual funding issues have delayed the project. I guess there’s one thing rocket science and startups have in common – raising capital.