Scotland’s SaxaVord Spaceport suffered an explosion on August 19th, when Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) conducted a ‘hot fire’ test of its first stage of its rocket. RFA was testing its nine–engine first stage at the Unst, Shetland launch pad when it suffered an anomaly. RFA said no–one was injured in the explosion and the launch […]

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has sent the first stage of its rocket (RFA-ONE) to its Scottish launch site at SaxaVord in the Shetland Islands in readiness for its first ‘hot fire’ test. The Augsburg, Germany-based aerospace business is very much focussed on building high-performance but low-cost rockets “in order to make space more accessible than […]

The UK’s government is awarding £100 million (€117m) in grants to British-based space organisations in particular focusing on the development of low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. In addition, it is also granting £10 million to Scotland’s SaxaVord rocket launch site. The intention is to highlight development of on-board data processing, laser optical links for satellite-to-satellite […]

Following on from the granting of permissions by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Scotand’s SaxaVord rocket launch facility has raised an additional £2.25 million in funding and helping to pay contractors who quit the site back in July complaining of unpaid invoices. The CAA permission was crucial and allows SaxaVord to handle 30 launches […]

Scottish spaceport SaxaVord has been licensed to operate rocket launches by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority. The site is at Unst on Shetland and is scheduled to host the UK Space Agency’s UK Pathfinder launch, which will be delivered by Lockheed Martin and ABL Systems. SaxaVord has a roster of clients including Rocket Factory Augsburg, […]

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is investing $33 million (€30m) in Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) which is building rockets for launch from Scotland’s SaxaVord spaceport. “The investment will facilitate RFA’s upcoming integrated first stage test and complete the company’s launch pad at SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland, to eventually bring the RFA ONE microlauncher to the launchpad,” said […]

Scotland’s SaxaVord Spaceport has secured funding to the tune of £139 million (€159.6m) to complete site development and prepare for multiple rocket launch missions. The cash comes in the form of a bond issue, and was reported to the UK parliament at a meeting on May 17th. The extra cash comes on top of £28 […]

Despite Virgin Orbit’s setback in Cornwall, Scotland’s SaxaVord Spaceport is moving rapidly ahead with its own plans. SaxaVord is materially different to Cornwall’s Newquay spaceport in that it is planning to loft conventional rockets vertically and directly into orbit from its launch pad. SaxaVord has announced a partnership with Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA). This partnership […]

Construction of the SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland, where the UK’s first vertical rocket launches will take place next year, is ahead of schedule. History was made earlier in November when the first concrete base for a launch stool at the Lamba Ness site in Unst was completed. Rocket stage testing is expected to begin there […]