{"id":45219,"date":"2025-08-05T11:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T11:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/45219\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T11:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T11:38:13","slug":"skyrora-becomes-first-uk-based-firm-to-get-space-launch-licence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/45219\/","title":{"rendered":"Skyrora becomes first UK-based firm to get space launch licence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Banks<\/p>\n

BBC Scotland News<\/p>\n

\"SkyroraSkyrora<\/p>\n

Skyrora hopes to launch from the Shetland spaceport up to 16 times a year by 2030<\/p>\n

A Scottish company has become the first UK-based rocket firm to receive a space launch licence.<\/p>\n

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) licence allows Skyrora to launch from the SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland.<\/p>\n

If a future launch is successful, the company could become the first British company to manufacture and launch a rocket into space from the UK.<\/p>\n

Skyrora welcomed the news. Both the Edinburgh-based company and the CAA described it as a “huge milestone”.<\/p>\n

The license will allow the firm to launch and operate its suborbital rocket Skylark L from the spaceport.<\/p>\n

It hopes to launch the rocket up to 16 times a year by 2030.<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

A number of companies hope to use SaxaVord in Unst, the northernmost point in the UK, as a launch site for commercial rockets.<\/p>\n

In January, German firm Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) was awarded the first launch operator licence<\/a> allowing it to launch rockets from SaxaVord.<\/p>\n

Skyrora says Skylark L has the potential to be used for microgravity experiments at a lower cost than an orbital vehicle.<\/p>\n

The 11m (36ft) tall rocket was produced using components that were 3D-printed in the UK and it is capable of reaching 3.5 times the speed of sound.<\/p>\n

It is hoped that the rocket would reach an altitude of about 310 miles (500km) and then return to Earth, which would involve passing into and out of space.<\/p>\n

Rob Bishton, the chief executive of the CAA, said: “Granting a home-grown company, Skyrora, its launch licence is a major milestone for our space sector and our nation.<\/p>\n

“Our work as the UK’s space regulator is enabling the burgeoning launch industry to safely grow, bringing new jobs and investment with it.”<\/p>\n

Skyrora chief executive Volodymyr Levykin said the journey to getting the license was a “long but ultimately rewarding one”.<\/p>\n

He added: “Becoming the first homegrown company in the UK to receive a vertical launch operator licence is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at Skyrora.<\/p>\n

“Safety is paramount to us, and so we are grateful to the CAA for its diligence in ensuring any launch activity is held to the highest of standards.<\/p>\n

“Skyrora is proud to be leading efforts that enable launch activity from the UK and we look forward to achieving a reliable commercial launch programme that benefits us all.”<\/p>\n

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray MP called the news “a massive boost to the whole of Scotland and the wider UK’s space sector”.<\/p>\n

He added: “I’m very proud that Scotland is at the forefront of such pioneering technology and I look forward to blast off from SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland.”<\/p>\n

The SaxaVord Spaceport is a former RAF radar station.<\/p>\n

Last year, during a test known as a hot-fire, an engine exploded<\/a> at the site.<\/p>\n

It resulted in a some damage to the launch platform and completely destroyed the engine.<\/p>\n

The space industry in the UK is estimated to be support tens of thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ken Banks BBC Scotland News Skyrora Skyrora hopes to launch from the Shetland spaceport up to 16 times…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-45219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}