Shetland spaceport boosts UK's plans for launch

Hundreds of space jobs will be created in Scotland following the approval of plans for Lockheed Martin to transfer its satellite launch operations to Shetland Space Centre by the UK government. Shetland Space Centre anticipates that by 2024, the spaceport site could support a total of 605 jobs in Scotland including 140 locally and 210 across the wider Shetland region. A further 150 jobs will also be created through wider manufacturing and support services. Following a thorough process of due diligence, the UK Space Agency has confirmed that Lockheed Martin's plans to move its UK Pathfinder Launch to the Shetland site at Lamba Ness on Unst would continue to deliver long-term value and help establish a sustainable, commercial launch market as part of the UK's spaceflight programme - LaunchUK. Lockheed Martin is in discussions with a preferred partner to provide launch services for its UK Pathfinder Launch, which would take place from Shetland Space Centre. UK Government Amanda Solloway, Science Minister, said: "We want the UK to be the best place in Europe to launch satellites, attracting innovative businesses from all over the world and creating hundreds of high-skilled jobs. The potential to have multiple spaceports in Scotland demonstrates the scale of our ambition, and I want to support industry by pressing ahead with our plans during this challenging time. "This government is committed to backing our growing space sector, developing a comprehensive space strategy and supporting transformative technologies that will benefit people and businesses across the country."

UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said: "The UK Government is committed to cementing the UK's position as a global leader in the space sector. The creation of the Shetland Space Centre is incredibly exciting news and a real boost for the local economy.

"Our investment in Scottish spaceports is creating hundreds of secure and skilled jobs for people in Scotland.

"The Shetland Space Centre a huge step forward for our ambitious UK Spaceflight programme."

Just as an airport can handle a range of different airlines and aircraft, Space Hub Sutherland has been designed as a multi-user site able to cater for the needs of multiple launch providers. This ensures it will be able to continue to compete for a wide range of exciting vertical launch opportunities.

The UK Space Agency will also continue to fully support Space Hub Sutherland through grant funding to Highlands and Islands Enterprise to develop the spaceport infrastructure and to UK-based launch partner, Orbex, to prepare its innovative Prime rocket to launch from the site in 2022.

An economic assessment of the Spaceport Sutherland site reported in 2019 that the site is due to create over 60 high-skilled jobs in Sutherland and Caithness, and 250 jobs in the wider area.

Ivan McKee, Scottish Government Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation said: "This is an extremely exciting time for the emerging space sector globally, and Scotland is situated at the very forefront of this.

"The transfer of Lockheed Martin's UK pathfinder satellite launch to Shetland Space Centre will enhance Scotland's existing vertical launch capability and enable us to target a wider market base through a complementary offer across multiple spaceports.

"This will provide an economic boost not only to the Shetland Isles but also maximise the commercial opportunity across the wider region, with Highlands and Islands Enterprise leading the delivery of Space Hub Sutherland alongside Scottish-based launch partner, Orbex."

Developing domestic spaceflight capabilities will play a key role in levelling up the UK economy, driving investment, fostering growth and creating new jobs.

Scotland is already home to some of the world's most innovative satellite manufacturers, and its ability to host complementary launch sites puts the UK firmly on the map as Europe's leading small satellite launch destination.

The economic benefits of launch will be shared across the Highlands and Islands region and both Space Hub Sutherland and Shetland Space Centre have already attracted significant commercial interest in their plans. In 2019, Orbex opened a rocket design and manufacturing facility in Forres, near Inverness, which is anticipated to bring 130 highly-skilled jobs to the region.

Nik Smith, UK Country Executive at Lockheed Martin said: "The UK has a vibrant space sector, which can stimulate the national as well as regional economies. As a long-standing strategic partner to the UK, Lockheed Martin is committed to building on its proud heritage to support the UK government's role of growing capabilities in space, exciting imagination and advancing the frontiers of science.

"From the outset our focus has been on realising the greatest economic benefit for the UK through the Spaceflight programme. The transfer of our UK spaceflight operations to Shetland will not only broaden launch options available in the UK, but also ensure the economic benefits of these endeavours are felt more widely."

Space has a significant role to play in generating economic growth, creating high-skilled jobs and tackling global challenges, from climate change to the spread of infectious diseases. The ability to launch small satellites for Earth observation and communications will boost UK efforts to tackle these challenges by providing valuable tools and data that can help analyse and predict impacts and support effective decisions and mitigation strategies.??

The UK's spaceflight programme - LaunchUK - is working with a range of additional partners to establish commercial vertical and horizontal small satellite launch from UK spaceports including Spaceport Cornwall and Virgin Orbit.

UK Govt to acquire OneWeb satellite constellation

The Government has today (3 July) led a successful bid to acquire OneWeb, which develops cutting-edge satellite technology in the UK and in the US. The move signals the Government's ambition for the UK to be a pioneer in the research, development, manufacturing, and exploitation of novel satellite technologies through the ownership of a fleet of Low Earth orbit satellites. Business Secretary Alok Sharma confirmed that the Government will invest $500million and take a significant equity share in OneWeb. This is alongside Bharti Global Ltd, which is part of a group that controls the third largest mobile operator in the world. Bharti will provide the company commercial and operational leadership, and bring OneWeb a revenue base to contribute towards its future success. The deal will enable the company to complete construction of a global satellite constellation that will provide enhanced broadband and other services to countries around the world. The deal also offers the UK strategic opportunities across a wide range of other applications, working with our international allies. With a sovereign global satellite system, the UK will further develop its advanced manufacturing base, making the most of its highly skilled workforce as the hardware is further developed and equipment and services are deployed to make the most of this unique capability. OneWeb will also contribute to the Government's plan to join the first rank of space nations, along with our commitment to making the UK a world leader in science, research and development. The deal is subject to US court approval and regulatory clearances and is expected to close before the end of the year.

It follows the formation of the UK's first-ever National Space Council, chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to consider how space policy can enhance the country's prosperity and place in the world, as well as our wider national security interests.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: "This deal underlines the scale of Britain's ambitions on the global stage.

"Our access to a global fleet of satellites has the potential to connect millions of people worldwide to broadband, many for the first time, and the deal presents the opportunity to further develop our strong advanced manufacturing base right here in the UK."

The UK space sector is an economic success story, growing by over 60 per cent since 2010. The sector, which already supports 300 billion pounds of UK economic activity through the use of satellite services, is expected to grow further as new commercial opportunities are unlocked by this agreement.

OneWeb was formed in 2012, and has been developing cutting-edge satellite technology from its bases both here in the UK and in the United States.

The UK Government will have a final say over any future sale of the company, and over future access to OneWeb technology by other countries on national security grounds.

The UK's first complete ground rocket test in 50 years takes place in Scotland

The UK's Space race heats up as Skyrora effectively made the UK ready for launching rockets into space after a team successfully built a mobile launch complex and completed a full static fire test with the Skylark-L rocket on it - in only five days. Skyrora's combined achievement also signifies the first vertical static fire test of this magnitude in the UK since the Black Arrow Programme, 50 years ago. The Skylark L rocket could be ready to launch from a British spaceport as early as spring 2021 and the inaugural launch of the low Earth orbital (LEO) Skyrora XL rocket by 2023. The ground test at the mobile launch complex at Kildemorie Estate in North Scotland earlier this month, saw Skyrora's launch vehicle, Skylark-L perform all actions of a launch while restrained to the ground and prevented from taking off. Skylark-L is a bi-liquid propellent launch vehicle. It is Skyrora's first sub-orbital flight vehicle, ready to reach a height of approximately 100km, just on the Karman line, and carry a payload of up to 60kg. Skylark-L uses a propellent combination of Hydrogen Peroxide and Kerosene which are pressure fed into a Skyrora 30kN engine. Building up to the static fire test, the rocket engine itself has gone through three hot fire tests before integration into the vehicle. When commercial, the company plans to use their own Ecosene, an equivalent Kerosene fuel made from un-recyclable plastic waste. In Skyrora's rocket suite, its aim is to start with launching sub-orbital rockets and move to orbital by 2023.

The full static firing test, fully checked out the design and in-house manufacture, making sure the vehicle itself is ready for launch. It was also successful in the feed system validation tests leading up to the full static fire test. During the test, Skylark-L was supported by Skyrora's transporter-erector that was fixed to a trailer.

In order to complete this test, the Skyrora team accomplished the build of a mobile launch complex in record time right in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The mobile complex was made up of several modules including, a command centre, oxidiser and fuel handing containers and a compressed gas container. During the test, the Bells and Two Tones Fire and Rescue team were onsite ready to perform any necessary procedures if anything was to go wrong.

Leading the operations of Skylark-L's static fire testing, Dr Jack-James Marlow said: "It is very hard to oversell what we have achieved here with this test; the whole team has pulled through again to deliver another UK first. We have successfully static tested a fully integrated, sub-orbital Skylark L launch vehicle in flight configuration. This means we performed all actions of a launch but did not release the vehicle. The rocket engine successfully burned, with all vehicle systems showing nominal operation.

"The test did not only validate the vehicle, it also tested our mobile launch complex's ground equipment and performed many cold flow and fuel/defuel tests. In all, there were over one hundred unique operations and the team has gained vital experience. This collection of tests, combined with the 25 other engine tests this year, allow us to take another step along our technology roadmap to orbital launch.

"This is the first time a launch vehicle of this magnitude has been tested in the UK for many years and I am very proud of my team for achieving this. The vehicle is now ready for flight and we are one step closer to putting the UK back into space."

Skyrora's chief executive officer, Volodymyr Levykin said: "As the launch aspect of the UK's new Space industry starts to emerge, there will be many events that have never happened here previously and this is one of them. This was a mammoth effort in very trying circumstances, so it is quite an achievement to be proud of.

"The operation was carried out while having to adhere to very strict social distancing measures, and in an extremely remote location, providing additional challenges, all of which were handled expertly by all the team.

"We see this as being the first significant step towards reaching space from our own soil and are very proud to have taken that step as part of the UK's Space ambitions. We are now in a full state of readiness for launch. It is this milestone that is the start of the UK's new space revolution, a fantastic example of the potential of what the UK Space holds for future.

"With the expertise in place and all the necessary hardware at the ready, we are poised to take the next steps in making the UK a serious leader in the Space business once again".

First launch of UK OneWeb communications satellites from Baikonur postponed

The first launch of UK communications satellites OneWeb from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome was initially supposed to take place on 19 December. The launch of UK OneWeb space internet system satellites from the Baikonur space centre was postponed from December this year to January 2020, three sources in Russia's rocket and space industry revealed. "The launch is being postponed due to the fact that the spacecraft are not ready. Their delivery to Baikonur is delayed from November to December 2019. The planned launch is postponed from 19 December to 23 January," one of the sources said, with two other sources confirming this information. OneWeb plans to create a constellation of satellites that will provide broadband Internet access to users around the world fully covering the Earth's surface. In cooperation with Roscosmos, the UK communications company sent up its first satellites in February and has planned its next two launches for the end of this year and the first half of 2020.