Is The First UK Launch Still on Track As Labour Takes the Helm?

17th Jul 2024

For fourteen years in a row, the Conservative Party ruled in the UK, bringing it to where it is now. However, now that Labour has won, a lot of things will (or should) have started changing, including the space industry’s approaches. Will that impact the anticipated first launch from SaxaVord Spaceport? Or the new government will let it happen in 2024?

UK Space Sector Prepares for Transformation?

The space and tech sector is preparing for a new era of governance and regulation following Labour’s landslide victory. Many believe that the new government, under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, will invigorate the business community with policies aimed at boosting investment and ensuring economic stability.

While there are not many details regarding the plan and further steps so far, the UK Space Agency representatives will attend the upcoming Farnborough International Airshow event. We might expect some announcements soon.

After a communications pause that lasted for weeks before the elections, we are now wondering if there’s going to be the first rocket launch from British soil in 2024. And it seems that we’re going to have it.

A spokesperson for the UK Space Agency said:

“We continue to deliver on the ambitions set out in the UK Space Agency’s Corporate Plan and look forward to the first launch from SaxaVord later this year. Strategic direction on space policy will be set by the new government in due course, following confirmation of ministerial portfolios.”

In their turn, Rocket Factory Augsburg, a German aerospace company, is actively preparing for the launch from the SaxaVord Spaceport. It was announced today that the team has successfully completed a full-duration hot fire of the integrated Redshift OTV, qualifying it for flight. The test included a 10-minute burn, a 40-minute coasting simulation, and a 30-second orbit circularization burn. The Rocket Factory team is now preparing to ship the qualified Redshift OTV to SaxaVord for payload integration ahead of its first test flight later this year.

We're coming in hot (fire) with an update on our third stage: We have completed a full duration hot fire of the fully integrated Redshift OTV, qualifying it for flight.

As always, our approach for this hot fire was to get as close to the real thing as possible. So it included a… pic.twitter.com/BAmN8nEwas
— Rocket Factory Augsburg (@rfa_space) July 17, 2024

In April 2024, The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted SaxaVord SpacePort its Range Control Licence.

Scotland-based rocket company Skyrora is also preparing for the first launch and has applied for a launch operator license for launches from SaxaVord Spaceport.

When asked about the expectations regarding the new policies, Skyrora’s founder and CEO, Volodymyr Levykin, said, that the “New government must create a supportive environment for the space sector in the form of both private and public investment. Not only will funding this innovation place the UK at the forefront of this industry globally, it will also help foster economic growth and job creation. Unlocking sovereign access to space and enabling the sector to thrive is the key to strengthening our national security and defence capabilities. This, in combination with greater defence investment for UK businesses, should not fall off the political agenda.”