Can Highlands’ spaceport Klingon after latest blow?
Firm set to switch UK’s star trek to Shetland
A SPACEPORT backed by £17 million of taxpayers’ cash is at risk of a failure to launch.
The complex, planned for the A’Mhòine peninsula in Sutherland, has been heavily backed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) quango.
But US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is now expected to launch the first rocket from Scotland from the rival Shetland Space Centre instead.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday understands the move could be signed off by UK Space Minister Amanda Solloway this week.
It would the latest blow to the Sutherland project, and would raise questions about its longterm viability.
Lockheed Martin is a major player in the international space sector, with sales of more than £8.5 billion and more than 100,000 staff worldwide, and has been a key partner.
It received £23.5 million from the UK Space Agency to establish launch operations at Sutherland in 2018. Much of that is now expected to be directed at the Shetland spaceport instead.
While any longer-term link-up with Sutherland is not being ruled out, it is understood that the last meeting between Lockheed
Martin and HIE took place in November.
The setback is the latest in a long line of problems for the Sutherland spaceport, which is opposed by the area’s main landowner, Danish billionaire
Anders Povlson, as well as locals and environmental campaigners, and was recently forced back to the planning process.
Another key partner, Orbex, is yet to successfully launch a rocket. Orbex co-founder Kristian von Bengtson was previously involved in Mars One, the scheme to colonise the Red Planet, which was widely criticised by experts and never got off the ground.
A Scottish space sector source said: ‘This is the death knell for Sutherland. They will labour on and try to get planning permission, and Orbex will make a lot of noise, but Lockheed Martin is the big player.’
A total of £17.3 million has been pledged to the Sutherland spaceport, including £9.8 million from HIE, £2.5 million from the UK Space Agency, and £5 million from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
The quango has forecast it would deliver 400 high quality jobs, including 40 in Sutherland.
Last night, an HIE spokesman said: ‘We continue to have a positive relationship with Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
‘Our plans for Space Hub Sutherland have always been for a multi-user spaceport, and this remains our objective.’
A Lockheed Martin spokesman said: ‘Lockheed Martin is proud to be working in partnership with the UK Space Agency and partners, including both Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Shetland Space Centre, to deliver a first vertical satellite launch from Scotland.’
A UK Space Agency spokesman added: ‘We continue to support ambitions to develop a spaceport at Sutherland. We would consider any potential changes to the consortium’s plans carefully to ensure they continue to deliver value for money.’
‘This is the death knell but they’ll labour on’