As of right now, the SaxaVord spaceport, located on the Shetland Islands off the northern coast of Scotland, is the first licensed spaceport in western Europe with the ability to launch rockets vertically.

On Sunday, December 17, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the United Kingdom granted a license to SaxaVord, which is situated on Unst, the northernmost island in the Shetland archipelago. Despite the lack of an official launch date, the CAA stated in a statement that the license “paves the way for rocket launches on U.K. soil from 2024.”

One of the two competing launch sites in Scotland, SaxaVord, has collaborations with a number of businesses that are involved in the development of tiny satellite launchers, including the U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, the German-headquartered HyImpulse and Augsburg Rocket Company, and the U.K.-based Skyrora.
The latest announcement was welcomed by Skyrora, whose suborbital Skylark L rocket failed during its first test flight in Iceland in December 2022. The company claimed in an email that it has already applied for a CAA license to operate its vehicles from the United Kingdom and is waiting to hear back.

“Two other licenses need to be granted to separate entities for a launch to be undertaken fully within the regulations: the Range Operator License and the Launching License,” Skyrora’s head of government affairs Alan Thompson said in the statement. “Skyrora has a live Launch License application being assessed and we eagerly anticipate permission to be granted early in 2024 to undertake a launch at SaxaVord in the summer.”

According to previous sources in SpaceNews, Rocket Company Augsburg also plans to launch its first orbital mission from SaxaVord next year. With intentions to launch a suborbital test rocket from Australia in early 2024, its compatriot company HyImpulse has obtained £3.4 million from the U.K. Space Agency to fund the testing of its hybrid propulsion rocket at the Shetland site.

Three U.K. launch sites, including SaxaVord, are competing to become Europe’s premier spacehub. A license is still pending for the Sutherland Spaceport, which is situated 260 miles (420 kilometers) southwest of SaxaVord on the Scottish north coast. Situated on the gorgeous A’ Mhòine peninsula, this site doesn’t seem to have gained much traction with rocket firms. Orbex, based in the United Kingdom, is the only major partner, and they are working on constructing their biofuel-fired Prime launcher in nearby Forres.

Another authorized spaceport in the United Kingdom is Newquay in Cornwall, which served as the launch site for Virgin Orbit’s botched attempt last year. While the Launcher One micro-rocket was successfully launched from Newquay’s runway in January 2023 by the company’s converted Boeing 747, the launcher malfunctioned soon after it was detached from the carrier aircraft.

There are currently no plans to launch rockets from Cornwall, which can only handle horizontal launches—that is, rockets are launched from aircraft after being transported to high heights underwing—because Virgin Orbit has subsequently declared bankruptcy.

So, SaxaVord might provide the long-desired opportunity to recreate the United Kingdom’s historic first rocket flight. The United Kingdom government has not lost interest in rocket launches in spite of the Virgin Orbit debacle. In fact, a lessons learned paper outlining the primary issues that preceded the Virgin Orbit disaster was just released.

Nine rocket companies have submitted license applications to the CAA and are awaiting judgments, according to Colin MacLeod, head of U.K. spaceflight regulation, during a webinar held in conjunction with the report’s release, as reported by SpaceNews.

The spaceport can accommodate up to 30 launches annually according to the SaxaVord license. The United Kingdom, which boasts a robust small-satellite manufacturing sector, is hoping that SaxaVord and its competitors would have an advantage over their international rivals in the marketplace due to the convenience of having a U.K.-made satellite launched from a U.K.-port on perhaps a U.K.-made rocket.

“The granting of SaxaVord’s spaceport license by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority is a hugely exciting milestone as we look forward to the first vertical launches from UK soil in the coming year,” Matt Archer, Director of Launch, U.K. Space Agency said in the CAA statement. “Getting to this stage is testament to the hard work by SaxaVord Spaceport and partners across government which moves us towards realizing our ambitions for the UK to be the leading provider of small satellite launch in Europe by 2030.”

In 2014, the British government first declared its intention to construct spaceports there. After four years, Cornwall, SaxaVord, and Sutherland were given money to assist in launching rockets. But since then, competition has increased throughout Europe. PLD Space, a Spanish rocket startup, launched its suborbital Miura 1 rocket from Huelva in southwest Spain successfully in October 2023.