Latest news with #spaceport
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Shetland space port founder diagnosed with terminal cancer
The driving force behind Shetland's space port is taking a "step back" from the project after being diagnosed with terminal throat Strang bought a former RAF radar station on Unst about 17 years ago and there was an intention to turn it into an eco-tourism the plan changed when the UK government was looking for potential sites for vertical launches of small rockets carrying Strang told BBC Scotland News he was not stepping down completely and was determined to see his vision through to the first launch, which is expected later this year. SaxaVord UK Space Port is the first fully licensed vertical launch space port in Strang, who was diagnosed about four weeks ago, said he had been given a life expectancy of six months to two 67-year-old, who lives in Grantown-on-Spey in the Highlands, said: "I feel a bit like I've been hit by a steam train."But he added: "We've all seen stories of people who have been diagnosed with a few months and five or six years later they are still going."The bottom line is we don't know what the end result will be."Mr Strang said his "incredible team" would continue his legacy. He also said Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen - Scotland's richest man who owns large areas of land in the Highlands - had pledged to support the project through to its Holch Povlsen had previously supported the space Strang said: "One of the reasons for our success is the incredible support I have been afforded by Anders Povlsen. "His team is very much part of the DNA and success of the project."Last year, the project secured £10m of UK government funding. Engine exploded A number of companies plan to use February, Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), from Germany, were thought to have the most advanced plans and it is officially licensed for an RFA launch test, a rocket engine exploded at the spaceport last August. The company said no one was injured and the launch pad had been "saved and is secured".RFA's Jorn Spurmann described it at the time as a "big and wonderful image" which had resulted in "a lot of learning".Another company Orbex, based in Forres in north-east Scotland, announced in December last year it had switched its first launch from Sutherland Spaceport to SaxaVord.
The National
5 days ago
- Business
- The National
Second rocket launch from Oman's spaceport called off but momentum builds
Oman's ambitious mission to develop a commercial rocket launch site to put the country at the centre of the region's growing space sector is taking shape, even after a recent test mission setback. Oman's plans to carry out a second rocket launch from its under-construction spaceport were called off on Sunday after engineers discovered a technical problem shortly before lift-off. The Duqm-2 mission was expected to launch a 12-metre experimental suborbital rocket from Etlaq Spaceport, the Middle East's first commercial launch site, in the remote coastal desert of Duqm. But a fault was found in the rocket's actuator, a device that helps control systems on the launch vehicle. Sayyid Azzan bin Qais Al Said, chief executive of the spaceport, said the mission had still met many of its goals. 'We achieved many objectives of the Duqm-2 mission, including planning the mission, navigating regulatory processes, designing ground infrastructure and building an integration hangar,' he said. The Kea-1 rocket, developed by Stellar Kinetics, a private company from New Zealand, was meant to travel into suborbital space on a short test flight. 'Building momentum' A company representative said the rocket had performed well in all steps before the final countdown, including preparing the launchpad, filling the rocket's tanks and integrating the two payloads from international partners. 'Over the next four months we anticipate a series of subsequent launches to continue on the research and development pathway,' they said. 'As the programme builds momentum, we expect to see a steady stream of both experimental and commercial Stellar Kinetics vehicles launching from the Etlaq Spaceport." Start-ups involved The Duqm-2 mission involved start-ups from the UK and Taiwan, who developed small satellite payloads to ride on the rocket. A team from Jupiter, a UK-based space start-up, built a small satellite called Jovian-O and an Earth observation device. Ieuan Carney, a PhD student at the University of Surrey, said being a part of the mission was exciting. 'Although the payload didn't get to deploy, it's something we were prepared for because we know space projects often have setback in the early stages,' he said. 'We're still so proud of what we've done, developing a payload and fitting it on to a rocket.' Sight Space from Taiwan developed a tiny satellite designed to measure stress and environmental conditions during the launch process. Etlaq momentum This was the second of five launch attempts planned at Etlaq Spaceport this year. The first in April was meant to see a 1-metre rocket lift-off but it was delayed and has not yet taken off. An attempt Stellar Kinetics is expected in October involving the Kea-2 rocket. A Kuwaiti start-up will try to launch its experimental rocket in November, and a fifth attempt will be made, again by Stellar Kinetics, in December. The spaceport's first test flight was in December 2024, when a 6.5-metre rocket blasted off on a high-altitude test flight. Etlaq is the Middle East's first commercial spaceport and is being positioned as a fast-track launch site for start-ups. It offers quick access to rocket testing, while plans for construction of a full-scale orbital spaceport are progressing ahead of a scheduled 2027 opening. This year's five launch attempts are being made possible by the new Genesis programme at Etlaq, which involved creating temporary but fully operational facilities at the spaceport. This allows companies to plan and execute high-altitude missions in as little as 13 weeks. The streamlined process is designed to cater to the growing demand from private companies, in contrast to the practice in countries such the US, where launch approval from the Federal Aviation Administration can take months. The Genesis operations occupy only about 10 per cent of the spaceport's capacity. The rest of the site is being reserved for the much larger, permanent orbital-class complex, which will feature three launch complexes and four pads, designed to support small, medium and heavy-lift vehicles. Construction on the full orbital spaceport is expected to begin next year, with commercial operations scheduled to start at the end of 2027.
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- Telegraph
The traditional Scottish island about to enter the space race
Prepare for lift-off. An unlikely countdown is under way on a traditional Scottish island of crofters and curlews about to enter the space race. If the first bolt out of the blue for Britain's northernmost inhabited island, Unst in Shetland, came with the eighth-century arrival of the Vikings, the next will be a rocket blasting off from the SaxaVord spaceport. Recent approval from the Civil Aviation Authority has cleared the way for launches – possibly before the end of 2025. 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.
Zawya
03-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Oman: Etlaq Spaceport in Duqm to start operating by 2027
Muscat – Oman's first spaceport Etlaq is expected to be operational by 2027, according to H H Sayyid Azzan bin Qais al Said, Founder and CEO of National Aerospace Services Company (NASCOM). The announcement comes as Oman consolidates its position in the regional space sector following the successful launch of Duqm-1, the first spacecraft developed under a Middle East-led initiative. The milestone marked a significant step forward in the sultanate's ambitions to establish a national space infrastructure for commercial and scientific purposes. Etlaq Spaceport, being developed in Duqm, is designed to offer end-to-end logistical and technical services for satellite and sub-orbital vehicle launches. Oman's strategic location has been highlighted as a key advantage for attracting global operators. 'The facility will eventually include four launch pads and support a range of missions, from micro to heavy payloads, including reusable systems,' informed H H Sayyid Azzan. 'NASCOM is also developing local human capital through dedicated training programmes, aligned with the company's goal of generating in-country value and fostering national capabilities in space technologies.' Under a programme named Al Takween (Genesis) launched in 2024, the company supports short-turnaround launch operations, enabling testing and qualification of spacecraft within 14 weeks. Recent developments include a second launch pad for experimental flights and a new assembly facility. NASCOM's next mission – Duqm-2 – is being conducted in partnership with New Zealand-based Stellar Kinetics. The mission's sub-orbital KEA-1 vehicle, measuring 12m, will be used to test stage separation and guidance systems. It will carry two international scientific payloads and explore microgravity conditions, contributing to research and technology development. Dr Saud bin Humaid al Shuaili, Director General of Policies and Governance and Head of National Space Programme at Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, said the spaceport project supports Oman's strategy for space exploration. © Apex Press and Publishing Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
