The sky’s no longer the limit

Two new strategies place the Highlands and Islands at the heart of Scotland’s growing space industry. The region’s unique geographic advantages look set to establish a new sector based around commercial satellite launches.

The Scottish Government published ‘A Strategy for Space in Scotland’ in October, just weeks after the UK Government unveiled a similar plan.

Aiming to claim a £4bn share of the global space market and create 20,000 jobs by 2030, the Scottish strategy identifies a key role for the Highlands and Islands to host a variety of launch facilities.

With an increasing reliance on small satellites for everything from day-to-day communications to near-Earth observations tracking climate change, the rapidly expanding commercial space industry is keen to find new sites from which they can access low-earth orbits.

“There is an opportunity for us to be Europe’s leading location for the launch of small satellites,” explains HIE's director of strategic projects David Oxley. “Compared to space missions from previous generations, these satellites and launch vehicles are much smaller and need access to low Earth orbits, which are easily accessed from our region. With the launch vehicles requiring a vertical path north over water to allow them to safely jettison their boosters, the Highlands and Islands is one of the few regions in Europe which can offer suitable launch sites.” Work is underway to establish satellite launch sites across the region. Space Hub Sutherland on the A’ Mhòine peninsula has already received planning permission, with the first launches anticipated within the next 18 months. With the capacity to ramp up to 12 launches each year, satellites launched from Space Hub Sutherland are expected to support communications technologies as well as providing earth observation data.

A planning application for SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland, meanwhile, is in the final stage of consideration at time of writing, while Spaceport 1 in North Uist is in earlier stages of planning.

Each of these vertical launch sites offer different access opportunities, environmental conditions and payload capacity, and with explorations underway to establish the feasibility of a horizontal (i.e. shuttle-style) launch site at the disused Machrihanish RAF base in Argyll, it’s expected that the Highlands and Islands will soon offer a complete range of launch options to the commercial space industry.

LAUNCHPAD FOR WIDER SECTORAL BENEFITS

With existing specialisms in Edinburgh for data and informatics, and Glasgow manufacturing more small satellites than any other city in Europe, the vision is that the Highlands and Islands can carve out a role as a centre for excellence in the manufacture and launch of satellite delivery vehicles.

Already, innovative manufacturer Orbex has come on board as launch partner for Space Hub Sutherland and established a manufacturing base in Moray, with a team of over 50 people working to create launch vehicles.

“These highly skilled jobs are a massive benefit to communities in our region,” says David. “Space is undoubtedly a 21st century growth sector. Developing our capacity as a space region will help us attract and retain both people and investment.”

LOW CARBON LEADERSHIP

With environmental sustainability a key concern for Orbex, and Scotland’s commitment to reach carbon net zero by 2045, plans are underway to ensure that Space Hub Sutherland will be the greenest spaceport in Europe.

As technological advances allow smaller satellites, launch vehicles need to burn less fuel to send them into orbit. Building on these carbon savings, Orbex will use biopropane, a non-fossil-based fuel which emits 90% less CO2 compared with traditional alternatives.

Launch processes are also engineered to produce very little waste, with Orbex committing to retrieving and re-using the boosters which are jettisoned into the sea during launch.

The Sutherland site currently bears the scars of centuries of unmanaged peat removal. With a comprehensive peat management plan in place, HIE will ensure that large areas are restored. All peat which is moved to create the launchpad, and more besides, will be retained on site and continue to act as a natural means of carbon capture.

The spaceport has also been carefully designed to have a low impact on its surroundings, with buildings that blend with the landscape, the launch pad concealed from the road, minimal fencing, and public access preserved when launches are not underway. With just 15 seconds of sound and light expected to arise from each of a maximum of 12 annual launches, the operational impact is expected to be low year-round, while the sky is, apparently, no longer the limit for the potential benefits from the space industry lifting off in the Highlands and Islands.

Artist’s impression of Space Hub Sutherland.

DAVID OXLEY, HIE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PROJECTS

As an economic development agency, HIE spends a lot of time addressing the challenges of declining populations in remote rural areas. In this instance, however, the locations of the launch sites themselves make them an ideal match for the space industry.

Our vision is that investment in these sites will support thriving communities, reverse local population decline and benefit our region as a whole. The Scottish Government’s new space strategy sets out a vision of the Highlands and Islands as a European leader in the manufacture and launch of satellite delivery vehicles. Under this ‘Team Scotland’ approach, operators, manufacturers, supply chain partners and academic institutions will work together to develop our region’s capabilities and compete against other countries in Europe for a bigger share of the commercial space industry.

With the data industry in Edinburgh and Glasgow’s emergence as a satellite manufacturing centre, launch capability has been the missing link for the space industry in Scotland. Thanks to our unique geography, we have the opportunity to fill this gap and carve out a valuable niche. We’re already seeing the benefits of having the space sector in our region, even before first launch, and we want its innovation and ambition to deliver benefit across the Highlands and Islands. Far from the large industrial installations that characterised the early years of space missions, these open, accessible, low-profile launch sites will have very little impact on the landscape or their surrounding areas.

We’re planning to develop a programme reaching out to local schools and other educational institutions to energise young people about the STEM opportunities in the space industry. This can be a launchpad for high skilled jobs and thriving communities in rural areas, including Sutherland as the decommissioning of Dounreay continues. We estimate that Space Hub Sutherland alone will create around 40 new high-quality jobs in the immediate area, with the capacity to support 250 jobs throughout the wider Highlands and Islands within five years of opening. Orbex has already expanded its operations, opening a second facility at The Enterprise Park Forres in Moray, and we expect to see other manufacturers and supply chain providers open up in the area to serve launch sites.

The Scottish Government’s vision is that Scotland will be ‘the best place on Earth to build a space business,’ and we’re determined to make the Highlands and Islands the gateway to this new frontier.