Sutherland spaceport

The Sutherland spaceport is a proposal for the first spaceport in the United Kingdom. It is planned to be located within the Melness Crofting Estate, on the A' Mhòine peninsula in Sutherland, Caithness and Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Overview
If funded, the facility would be operated by the UK Space Agency. The proposed spaceport is expected to employ some 40 people directly and another 400 indirectly. It would be built through the local development agency, the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

The spaceport would host Rocket Lab's Electron rocket and a planned new British rocket called Prime by the startup company Orbex. The facility would be shared by both companies, and would potentially use two separate launch pads at the spaceport, as both rockets use different propellants.

Location 

The A'Mhòine peninsula location was selected over two other Highland, Scotland locations: Unst, Shetland, and North Uist, Western Isles. The location would be useful for launching small satellites to polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit. The spaceport site is  from the closed Dounreay nuclear research reactor. The nearest community to the spaceport is the crofting township of Talmine, alongside the Kyle of Tongue, with a population of 200.

History
The project is officially called UKVL Sutherland. The proposed site was announced at the 2018 Farnborough Air Show in July, and if accepted, it is planned to be completed by 2020. There is mixed support amongst the local crofters. In November 2018, the Melness Crofters Estate (MCE) voted on whether to continue discussions about the proposal. Twenty-seven votes were cast in favour, with eighteen against and one spoiled ballot.

Partners and organisations

Development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) are working in conjunction with the UK Space Agency, Orbex and Lockheed Martin.

Forecasted costs 
The spaceport is estimated to cost £17.3 million to build, £2.5 million of which will be given to Highlands and Islands by the UK government.

Public consultation
On 4 September 2019, HIE started a public consultation phase, ahead of the formal application for planning consent, which is expected to be filed in December.

References

Category:Sutherland
Category:Spaceports in Europe
Category:Space programme of the United Kingdom