Orbex Move from Sutherland Spaceport in Second Major Departure in Four Years

One of the most noteworthy news stories of the year for UK launch ambitions has been the exodus from the partially completed Sutherland Spaceport. This is a huge story for the UK and particularly Scotland’s Space sector. It also opens up a multitude of new questions.

The first thing to highlight is that this site was given the full support of the British Government, the UK Space Agency, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and even to an extent the European Space Agency. The support included millions of pounds of financial funding.

Bog-crossed plans at Sutherland Spaceport

The companies given the task of bringing UK launch ambitions to fruition at Sutherland had included U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin and the Danish/German conglomerate, Orbital Express Launch Ltd.(Orbex).

Lockheed Martin were the first to abandon the site with a move to the Shetland Islands (SaxaVord Space Centre) back in 2020. This was despite £23.5m in grants that we understood to be tied to the Sutherland launch site.

One of the key aspects of Sutherland Spaceport receiving overwhelming support had been the prospect of job creation. Lockheed Martin moving on reduced potential job creation opportunities.

And then as the project got underway at the Melness area of Sutherland, some construction issues arose (mostly around the fact that it is an actual Peat Bog). We did report on some of the potential construction challenges at the time, especially that a bridge that was on the route to the site wouldn’t support the type of vehicles that would be needed to transport launch facilities including rockets. There were also concerns over the construction of roads and other infrastructure on top of the Peat Bog. 

Despite these concerns, Orbex were given the contract to manage the infrastructure build and potentially to act as the Launch Site Operator, giving them de facto ownership of the site as their private launch facility.

Then on 4th December 2024, in a bolt from the blue, Orbex announced they would be moving their initial launches to the Saxavord Space Centre and would pause work at Sutherland. Whether this work would actually be paused or abandoned altogether remains to be seen. But, whatever happens, all parties with an interest in the Sutherland Spaceport as well as many other media outlets have expressed some surprise and dismay at the announcement. Not least of which was Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

Commenting on Orbex’s announcement, an HIE spokesperson said: “This announcement marks an unexpected change of direction from Orbex.” HIE have confirmed to Orbital Today that there was no prior communication from Orbex about the move. It begs the question about why Orbex had kept one of its major donor funding partners in the dark through what would have been months of negotiations with SaxaVord over the move.

It seems that Orbex also failed to tell its own people about the change, or at least let them carry on with business as usual to keep up the pretense until it became convenient to tell the world. A week before the announcement, The Northern Times published a call for tenders at the site.

About the money

By the end of November 2024, HIE had paid Orbex £1.963m in grant funding for costs associated with developing Sutherland Spaceport.

Prior to this, HIE had also invested £2.087m directly in the development, along with £2.55m from the UK Space Agency and £2.61m from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

HIE are not alone in watching their funded programme put on ice. The Scottish Government also provided funding for the Sutherland project, which combined with HIE funding comes to around £9m according to a BBC report.

The Scotsman newspaper also covered the announcement extensively by asking what was to happen to the £14.6m in total public funds received by Orbex for the Sutherland project. The question had been asked in the Scottish Parliament by Labour’s Rhoda Grant, where she said: “Yesterday we heard that Sutherland Spaceport has been mothballed by Orbex. The spaceport was a positive development for the Sutherland community, bringing 40 jobs and economic benefits to a part of the Highlands that has suffered from depopulation… Orbex have received £14.6 million in investment for the spaceport.”

Orbex chief executive Phil Chambers said the move to SaxaVord would help the firm deliver on its core mission of producing rockets, rather than building spaceports. The statement also represents a missed opportunity to salve wounds, as Chambers could have mentioned the fate of the test facilities at Forres. The point is not a small one, as SaxaVord has engine testing facilities as well, and one could be forgiven for wondering if those were moving to the Shetlands as well. Our understanding is that the engine test facilities at Forres will continue to be used by Orbex.

HIE themselves could point this out as well, though they did tell Orbital Today by e-mail: “It’s important to stress that Orbex is a very significant player in the UK space sector and a key employer in Moray where it has over 150 skilled jobs at Enterprise Park Forres with plans to expand further.

It also speaks to the strength of our regional space sector that innovative rockets will be both manufactured and launched into orbit from locations in the Highlands and Islands, and this move will strengthen SaxaVord Spaceport’s commercial proposition.

What is less clear is the impact that Orbex’s decision will have on Sutherland.

When HIE first began implementing plans for a spaceport on the A’ Mhoine peninsula, back in 2018, it was with a clear intention that this would create new economic opportunities for present and future generations.

We want to send a clear message to local people that we are deeply disappointed at this turn of events and remain committed to working with them to develop a positive future for Melness and the surrounding area.”

We will continue to follow this story with interest.