{"id":965,"date":"2026-09-09T14:23:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/?p=965"},"modified":"2026-09-10T16:11:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:11:57","slug":"saxavord-lines-up-60m-public-private-package-to-unlock-uk-orbital-launches-from-shetland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/09\/saxavord-lines-up-60m-public-private-package-to-unlock-uk-orbital-launches-from-shetland\/","title":{"rendered":"SaxaVord lines up \u00a360m public-private package to unlock UK orbital launches from Shetland"},"content":{"rendered":"

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SaxaVord Spaceport has welcomed UK Government plans to invest \u00a330 million as part of a wider \u00a360 million public-private investment programme to accelerate the UK’s orbital launch capability.<\/p>\n

The Government investment, subject to due diligence, forms part of the UK’s updated space strategy and is to be matched by \u00a330 million of planned private investment. The money will fund completion of key infrastructure at the Unst site \u2014 all three launchpads, mission management infrastructure and a second integration hangar \u2014 as SaxaVord moves towards regular commercial launch operations.<\/p>\n

SaxaVord, the UK’s only licensed vertical launch spaceport, holds regulatory approval for up to 30 launches a year and is being developed to accommodate multiple launch providers. Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) is working towards the first vertical orbital test flight from UK soil, while HyImpulse is preparing a sub-orbital launch campaign. The company said it is also in discussions with further launch service providers.<\/p>\n

“This is a hugely significant vote of confidence in SaxaVord and in the UK’s determination to establish its own launch capability,” said Scott Hammond, SaxaVord CEO.<\/p>\n

“We have transformed a former RAF radar station in Unst into the UK’s first licensed vertical launch spaceport. This government investment, which will unlock a matching amount of private investment, will help us take the next step \u2013 establishing regular launch operations from the UK and building a sustainable commercial spaceport for the long term.”<\/p>\n

Hammond added: “We are building the spaceport for the thousandth as much as the first launch, creating a safe, secure and trusted home for our client launch providers for many years to come.”<\/p>\n

Lise Kaae, CEO of Heartland \u2014 which through its investment arm Wild Ventures holds a majority stake in the spaceport \u2014 said: “We are very pleased to welcome UK Government as an investor and partner in SaxaVord. Their commitment is a strong endorsement of the ambitions for the company, the spaceport in Shetland and the potential we have believed in for many years. As long-standing supporters and partners, we are proud of the development so far and look forward to continuing the journey alongside the UK Government.”<\/p>\n

The company said the Government investment remains subject to due diligence and final sign-off, and that it intends to make a further announcement, including full details of the investment programme, once the agreement has been settled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SaxaVord Spaceport has welcomed UK Government plans to invest \u00a330 million as part of a wider \u00a360 million public-private investment programme to accelerate the UK’s orbital launch capability. The Government investment, subject to due diligence, forms part of the UK’s updated space strategy and is to be matched by \u00a330 million of planned private investment. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":968,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions\/968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}