
The traditional Scottish island about to enter the space race
The spaceport occupies an RAF radar station decommissioned in 2006. Entrepreneurs Richard and Debbie Strang purchased it, initially with plans for a resort complex, before their vision changed to a spaceport around a decade later. SaxaVord will be Western Europe's first spaceport capable of vertical launches to send smaller communication satellite payloads into polar low Earth and sun-synchronous orbits. An agreement exists with German manufacturer Rocket Factory Augsburg for 10 launches per year, while a new hotel is planned that could cater for space tourists.
Unst's extreme remoteness makes for an ideal launch site. At 60°N, its 632 inhabitants live closer to the Arctic Circle than Manchester while the nearest seaport is 200 miles away in Norway, with which Unst shares a strong Norse heritage. With little settlement or air traffic north of SaxaVord's location, it's considered safe to launch rockets. It took me two nights to reach Unst via the overnight Caledonian Sleeper train from London to Aberdeen, then NorthLink Ferries' night service to the Shetland capital, Lerwick. Then it was three hours by bus – via two roll-on, roll-off ferries – to the village of Baltasound.
The paradox of this wildly beautiful 12-mile-long island's interstellar ambition is quickly apparent. Treeless, rough sheep pasture is scattered with ruined stone crofts, and curlews and plovers sing all day long. Sapphire-blue lochs and steepling sea-cliffs are swarmed by seabirds and Unst's 60 excavated Viking longhouses recall its long occupation. Its name probably derives from the old Norse word 'Ornyst', meaning 'Eagle's Nest'.
'It won't exactly be Cape Canaveral,' said Steve, owner of Baltasound Hotel, currently Unst's only (and Britain's most northerly) hotel. 'I don't think the spaceport will attract many people as most come to see birds, seals, and orca.' He cites Unst's low-capacity ferry and a lack of accommodation as reasons why tourists probably won't arrive in asteroid clusters.
His 1860s-built hotel – especially its bar – was once popular with RAF personnel and oil rig workers. In the 1970s, Unst was a hub for ferrying them to the North Sea rigs and its population boomed to 1,200. The residents' restaurant is one of the few on Unst and the menu while I was there featured locally caught crab and scallops. I lodged in a cosy garden cabin with an interior resembling a Scandinavian sauna. It's said that when the mist came in and grounded the crews, the price of beer in the bar mysteriously doubled.
With a rented e-bike it was easy enough to explore the spaceport's vicinity. Unst's main road passes through Haroldswick, which has a replica Viking longhouse with a turfed roof and the Skidbladner, a longship built in Sweden in 2000 that adventurers planned to sail to America but only made it to Shetland. The road continues north-east until Skaw's deserted golden sand beach, 1,695 miles north of Dover.
The most noticeable reminder of the old RAF base is a concrete housing development resembling neo-brutalist ski chalets now housing spaceport construction workers. 'The RAF were welcomed and integrated really well – the base was a buzzing place,' islander Robin Mouatt remembered. 'We used the sports facilities, and they once flew in Bucks Fizz to perform.'
Spaceport signs warn 'aliens will be transported back to Mars' and from Saxa Vord Hill, in squally blusters sending seabirds flying sideways, I get a bird's-eye view of the flat-topped Lamba Ness peninsula, towards the launchpad and a rocket assembly shed.
Nearby is a bench with a barnstorming view over Burrafirth Beach. It was placed there by the social enterprise Wild Skies, which has created a cross-island Sky Trail of interpretation stops celebrating Unst's skies featuring audio poems and readings generated using QR codes. This bench tells me about 'Mirrie Dancers', a Shetland name for the Northern Lights. 'Unst stagnated a bit after the RAF left so we created something extra for visitors,' says Catriona Waddington of Wild Skies. 'Unst skies change so fast in the winds and the dark-sky stars are incredible.'
She said islanders have mixed feelings about the spaceport. 'There's been some benefits like road widening, but they haven't recruited a lot of islanders,' she said.
Curiously, the spaceport owns a distillery producing Shetland Reel gin, which is managed by an ex-Highlander, Mark Turnbull, arguably Britain's hardest working distiller who single-handedly produces it in a still named after his daughter. Tours must be booked in advance and Mark operates a laissez-faire approach to tasting, leaving me free to sample the entire range of (eight) gins unsupervised. It's very sippable – definitely not rocket fuel. One is called 'Countdown'.
'Richard Strang wanted this limited-edition one in the run-up to the first launch although we're cracking through it and unsure when that will be,' said Mark. My favourite, Ocean Sent, uses seaweed he harvests off local beaches with his son. 'I think the rocket launches will boost sales as people will want a souvenir after coming to see it,' he added.
The spaceport is adjacent to the Hermaness National Nature Reserve. A three-hour hike across boggy moorland led me to 500ft-high cliffs peeling away into sea-stacks featuring the formidable spectacle of 100,000 seabirds in peak nesting season, including six per cent of the North Atlantic breeding population of blue-eyed gannets. Puffins crash-landed into burrows with beaks full of sand eels. From here I could see the UK's absolute northernmost point, Muckle Flugga, an islet with an 1858 lighthouse as tall as a skyrocket. The lighthouse was constructed by Thomas Stevenson and it is said that when his son, Robert Louis, visited in 1869 he was inspired to write Treasure Island.
Derek and Cheryl Jamieson, both Unst-born and bred, feel the launches won't disturb this wildlife or Unst's traditional values. 'Previously we had RAF Skaw, so wildlife and islanders were used to planes and helicopters coming and going. Only people who've moved here more recently don't want change,' said Derek, a crofter.
I met them at Cheryl's glassmaking studio in Uyeasound called Glansin Glass where she fires fine contemporary glasswork with Shetland motifs like ponies and fish. 'Glansin', said Cheryl, translates as 'bright and shiny' in the old Shetland Nørn language. Derek, meanwhile, was the Jarl (lord) at February's Norwick Up Helly Aa fire festival, assuming the Viking persona Torbjørn Egilsson. I looked enviously at their wood-built, two-storey hilltop house with magnificent views over the sound. Derek laughed at notions of crofters living in dark little stone dwellings with no running water or electricity.
Unst is not an island that is going to be dragged kicking and screaming into the spotlight when the first rocket launch makes national news. 'We've always lived on the edge of things but we're a resilient and innovative people and the launches won't change our strong sense of community,' said Cheryl. Mission control, it would seem, has little to worry about the future trajectory of this fabulous island, many light years different to the rest of our nation.
Getting there
The Caledonian Sleeper from London Euston to Aberdeen costs £270 in a classic twin. A sleeping pod on the Northlink Ferries service from Aberdeen-Lerwick costs from £61 per person, or a two-berth cabin with car is from £348.
Staying there
Rooms at the Baltasound Hotel cost from £168 including breakfast.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Telegraph
Gordonstoun pupils recreate teenage King's 28-mile Cairngorms hike
Gordonstoun pupils have recreated the King's 28-mile Caingorms hike 60 years later. The teenage Prince of Wales went on a three-day hike through 'rain and stormy wind' in October 1965 for his silver Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) award. This year students from the King's old school tracked down the archived records of his route before setting out to recreate the challenge, following the King's footsteps across the Highlands in their hike from June 19 to 21. While handwritten notes detail how Charles ascended 2,788ft peaks to find a view shrouded in mist, the students chose a warmer time of year for their hike. Temperatures reached as high as 27C (80F). They followed Charles's route from Balachroich, through Kingussie, to Rothiemurchus Lodge in Aviemore, taking in Glenfeshie Forest and passing by Ben Macdui on the way up Glen Dee. Another group followed the same course in reverse. With the help of the handwritten notes and accompanying map, a team of seven – five girls and two boys – retraced Charles's route to obtain their own silver awards. Hiker William Griffin, 16, said: 'The most standout thing for me on the expedition was how diverse all the landscape was. 'We started off in dense woodland, going along the banks of a dried-up river that led out into a wide valley with thick heather. 'We then went through the mountains into a massive open plain with the river meandering through it. It was so impressive.' The records reveal Charles was a member of group two, under its pupil leader Michael Fabianski. The group was found in good spirits when a 'Mr Varney' checked in with them on the Saturday, according to the notes. Mr Fabianski said: 'My memory from the expedition was camping for the first night on the banks of the River Feshie and wading across the River Dee, while walking up Glen Dee to the Corrour bothy, where we camped for the second night. ' It's very atmospheric walking up Glen Dee, with Cairn Toul on one side and Ben Macdui on the other. I appreciated the steepness of the valley later, when we scrambled up its side to Càrn a' Mhàim during the gold expedition in which I took part the following July.' Mr Varney's written account talks of 'overcast skies' and 'stormy wind' but suggests the Sunday was 'a fine day' and the prince's group reached their final destination just after group one at 3.20pm. India Lewis, 16, one of the pupils who went on the expedition, said it was cool to follow in the King's footsteps and she really enjoyed the challenge. Miss Lewis said: 'In the back of everyone's mind we remembered our motto, 'Plus Est En Vous', and we remembered that you have more in you. 'We do have more in us because even at times when we thought we couldn't do it we were still able to keep going and we all got there in the end. Mindset does really matter.' The DofE award has its roots at Gordonstoun, where it was known as the Moray Badge until Prince Philip championed the experience. It evolved to become a national programme in 1956. In the 12 months to March a record 572,802 pupils participated in the scheme at bronze, silver and gold levels. Peter Green, the Gordonstoun principal, said: 'In the spirit of our founder Kurt Hahn, I firmly believe that students must be regularly challenged to grow, both inside and outside the classroom. 'The recent expedition through the Cairngorms, retracing the footsteps of the King, was a powerful illustration of that philosophy in action. 'Spending four days camping in one of the most remote regions of the UK presented a genuine test of the students' resilience and teamwork, and they responded with remarkable perseverance and strength of character.'


BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Orkney and Shetland internet cable to be fixed by next weekend, say owners
Damage to the undersea communications cable which has affected internet services in Orkney and Shetland should be fixed by next weekend, the cable's owners have company Shefa said damage to the cable between Orkney and Banff was most likely to have been caused by a fishing has led to disruption for hundreds of broadband customers in the islands since it was reported at about 03:00 on was initially thought up to 10,000 people would be affected. Most have now had their services restored. Shefa spokesman Pall Vesterbu told BBC Radio Orkney a repair vessel would be at the site of the break around 5.5 miles (99km) from Orkney this week to assess the damage and and fix the Vesterbu said it was probably a fishing boat which caused the damage but the company could not be sure until inspections have been carried is calling on fishing boats to avoid fishing directly over the cables and to keep their Automatic Identification System (AIS) indicators on at all times so they can be warned if they are fishing too close to the cable provider OpenReach initially said 10,000 customers had been affected but then scaled that back to "hundreds".The Balfour Hospital's switchboard and phone system has been restored after it went down on Saturday, with patients asked to call a mobile number while it was being Shefa-2 cable provides a wholesale link which is used by telecoms companies to deliver services to their is used by OpenReach to deliver the broadband network to the islands, which is then sold on by individual companies like EE, Vodaphone, Sky and PlusNet in different is one reason why customers and businesses have had different experiences this weekend - with some experiencing no interruption, others coming back on overnight, and some taking longer to be restored.


Times
13 hours ago
- Times
Gordonstoun pupils recreate King Charles' DofE trek, 60 years on
At the age of 16 the future King Charles set off on a three-day character-building hike across the Highlands in 'rain and stormy wind', according to logbooks unearthed at his Scottish boarding school. In pursuit of his silver Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) award, the young heir to the throne trekked almost 29 miles in winter weather, including 'eight miles up Glen Feshie'. Over the course of three days, the prince ascended 850m peaks to find, the records reveal, a view cloaked in mist. He is listed as a member of group two, under its pupil leader Michael Fabianski, who were found in good spirits when 'Mr Varney' checked in with them on Saturday October 2, 1965. It was Gordonstoun students preparing to undertake their own DofE expeditions this year who tracked down the records of that adventure in the school archives. With the help of the handwritten notes and accompanying map, a team of seven retraced Charles's route 60 years on to obtain their own silver awards. Fabianski, who successfully completed the walk alongside Charles, said: 'My memory from the expedition was camping for the first night on the banks of the River Feshie and wading across the River Dee, whilst walking up Glen Dee to the Corrour bothy, where we camped for the second night. 'It's very atmospheric walking up Glen Dee, with Cairn Toul on one side and Ben Macdui on the other. I appreciated the steepness of the valley later, when we scrambled up its side to Càrn a' Mhàim during the gold expedition in which I took part the following July.' Despite the 'overcast' skies and 'showers' that overshadowed their journey, Varney's written account suggests the Sunday was 'a fine day' and the prince's group reached their final destination just after group one at 3.20pm. The 2025 team completed the same route from June 19 to 21 in heat and sunshine, temperatures reaching as high as 27C. India Lewis, 16, one of the pupils who went on the expedition, said it was 'cool' to follow in the King's footsteps, adding that she really enjoyed the challenge. She said: 'In the back of everyone's mind we remembered our motto, 'Plus Est En Vous', and we remembered that you have more in you. We do have more in us, because even at times when we thought we couldn't do it, we were still able to do keep going and we all got there in the end. Mindset does really matter.' A fellow hiker, William Griffin, 16, said: 'The most standout thing for me on the expedition was how diverse all the landscape was. We started off in dense woodland, going along the banks of a dried-up river that led out into a wide valley with thick heather. We then went through the mountains, into a massive open plain with the river meandering through it. It was so impressive.' The DofE award has its roots at Gordonstoun, where it was known as the Moray Badge until Prince Philip championed the experience and it evolved to become a national programme in 1956. In the 12 months to March a record 572,802 pupils participated in the scheme at bronze, silver and gold levels. Peter Green, the Gordonstoun principal, said: 'In the spirit of our founder Kurt Hahn, I firmly believe that students must be regularly challenged to grow, both inside and outside the classroom. The recent expedition through the Cairngorms, retracing the footsteps of the King, was a powerful illustration of that philosophy in action. 'Spending four days camping in one of the most remote regions of the UK presented a genuine test of the students' resilience and teamwork, and they responded with remarkable perseverance and strength of character.' The route took Charles and today's adventurers from Balachroich, Kingussie, to Rothiemurchus Lodge in Aviemore, taking in Glenfeshie Forest and passing by Ben Macdui on the way up Glen Dee. Another group followed the same course in reverse.