Never mind Brexit: For a remote peninsula in the Scottish highlands, the buzz is all about rocket launchers firing satellites into space.
In just three years’ time, rockets are to send satellites into orbit from the rugged stretch of coastline, under British government plans unveiled this week.
The sleepy county of Caithness and Sutherland has been selected as the site of the kingdom’s first ever space port, Britain announced at the Farnborough Airshow, a showpiece event for the global aerospace sector.
Photo: AFP PHOTO / Orbex / Anders Boggild.
The UK Space Agency awarded a ￡2.5 million (US$3.3 million) grant toward the construction of a vertical space port facility in Sutherland, which is to become operational in 2021.
The announcement has boosted hopes for an industry worried about the effects of Britain leaving the EU and raised spirits in pro-EU Scotland, which was outvoted in the 2016 referendum.
“It is rocket science,” said Roy Kirk, area manager for Caithness and Sutherland at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), a development agency for Scotland’s devolved government.
The launchers, to be made by established player Lockheed Martin and start-up Orbex, are to be 17m tall and fire rockets that take just eight minutes to get into orbit.
“We are delighted we have been selected as a spaceport for vertical launch,” Kirk said at the Farnborough Airshow, adding that the site would also create tourism opportunities. “The local economy will benefit.”
The space port is to employ about 40 staff within three years of starting operations, but the supply chain around that is expected to support nearer 400 jobs.
Satellite uses include navigation, weather forecasting, telecommunications and financial transactions, while they are also vital for the defense and energy sectors.
The Sutherland facility is to cost an estimated ￡17.3 million to build, including ￡10 million from HIE.
The port would be well positioned geographically to launch satellites over the North Pole.
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is seeking to develop the UK space industry after its role in European space projects has been called into question by Brexit.
Space is one of Britain’s fastest growing sectors and generates more than ￡13 billion of income per year.
“Our ambition to grow the space sector is in no way any different than it was before Brexit,” UK Space Agency chief executive Graham Turnock said in Farnborough. “We are actually looking to the opportunities for trade deals with the rest of the world after Brexit, so we are very positive about that. We are still aiming to achieve 10 percent of the world space market by 2030. We are very confident that we can do that.”
He also sought to dispel concerns that Britain’s departure from the EU next year would hurt the industry.
“Obviously, we are talking to the EU about our future participation in the space programs,” he said. “We have said that we’d very much like to continue to participate in Galileo Copernicus, but it takes two sides to want to have that discussion.”
Britain wants continued participation in the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system — but Brussels has rejected the idea.
British Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling was also at the Farnborough Airshow to champion the space investment.
“After pioneering the development of those small satellites over many years, adding our own space ports means we can now move to offering customers a one-stop shop in the United Kingdom,” Grayling said. “A full package of services — from design to build, right up to launch.”
Brexit has sparked uncertainty, but also opportunity, some academics argue.
“The main impact of Brexit right now is uncertainty,” said Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester, which is launching a government-backed global industry hub Space Park in 2020.
“Having said that, there have been some positive consequences as a result,” he added, citing government investment in both the Space Park and the Sutherland spaceport. “The government suddenly needed to focus on industrial strategy and suddenly needed to focus on investment in the regions quite quickly.”
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