Orbex vows to return to Sutherland Spaceport – but Caithness business leader warns there are ‘no guarantees’
The prospect of satellite launches from the mothballed north Sutherland spaceport has been rekindled.
Rocket firm Orbex abandoned the partially-built site late last year to focus on development of its Prime spacecraft, which it now plans to launch from Shetland.
Far north community and development bodies were stunned at the start of December when the Forres-based firm announced it was to “pause” its construction work at A’ Mhoine, near Tongue.
It was to instead launch its first wave of small commercial satellites from the rival site at SaxaVord in Shetland.
There were then calls for Orbex to repay the millions of pounds in public money invested in the Sutherland venture, with many fearing it would turn into a white elephant.
But the company on Thursday clarified that it now foresees both sites being deployed, with mobilisation work at the Sutherland site set to resume from 2027.
It had previously been gearing up to launch from its own base at A’ Mhoine this summer, the first of an expected 12 orbital rockets per year carrying commercial satellites into Earth’s orbit.
The revised timescale effectively means a three-year delay but revives the prospect of 40 new jobs being created by the scheme, which is a key part of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)’s masterplan for the Tongue/Melness area.
However, the latest promises were not enough to appease Trudy Morris. The Caithness Chamber of Commerce chief executive said it was “unacceptable” that the site had been left mothballed with no guarantee that Orbex would return in the timescale suggested.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We can confirm that Orbex’s current business plan and launch schedule estimates that capacity at Sutherland Spaceport would be required from 2028 at the earliest (with construction requiring to restart in 2027).
“This is why Orbex intends to fulfil its lease and planning obligations and keep the spaceport’s development under constant review.
“We will be able to launch 10 times per year from SaxaVord Spaceport and will have exclusive use of our own dedicated launch complex.”
In the wake of the December announcement, council and development agencies were keen to explore whether other operators could be attracted to the Sutherland site.
Orbex has made clear it does not envisage any other use being made of it in the meantime.
“Allowing another launch operator to sub-let at Sutherland Spaceport would introduce significant complexities and cost into Orbex’s business plan without offering substantial long-term benefits beyond addressing a medium-term gap,” said the spokesperson.
“In addition, there are no operational micro-launchers in Europe at the moment, so we do not think this would be in the best interest of the spaceport.
“We believe such a deviation would be detrimental to Orbex’s long-term success and consequently to the broader success of the space industry in the north of Scotland.”
The Sutherland Spaceport became a live prospect when HIE received £2.5 million from the UK Space Agency in 2018 to create the facility. The Scottish Government and HIE have invested nearly £9 million in the project.
The 10-acre tract of common grazings is leased from Melness Crofters’ Estate to Highlands and Island Enterprise, which sub-leases it to Orbex. The 50-year agreement, with an option for a further 25 years, stands to net MCE around £3.5 million.
The updated timescale provided by Orbex did not go far enough to allay the concerns of Ms Morris at the Caithness Chamber, however.
She previously claimed to have been “blindsided” by the December announcement and feared the Sutherland site would end up being mothballed.
Ms Morris pointed out that the predicted schedule for its resumption is based on the SaxaVord programme.
“It offers little in the way of guarantees,” she said. “It doesn’t legislate for failures and technical problems, which is the nature of emerging technologies.
“We are looking for economic benefits for the community, retaining young people and attracting other space-related activity to the area.
“It is a fragile area and depopulation is an issue. It is unacceptable that a site is sitting there half-finished and promises made which cannot be guaranteed.
“We are therefore urging Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Government to find a solution.”
Thurso Highland councillor Matthew Reiss welcomed the inclusion of the Sutherland site in Orbex’s latest update of its launch programme.
“This is good news for the far north after a hiccup that looked very serious,” he said.
“Bringing some good-quality jobs to north Sutherland is very welcome as we try to stem the threat of depopulation.”
