Sutherland spaceport

The proposed site was first announced in July 2018 at the Farnborough Air Show and had hoped it might be ready for first launches in 2020. The project was initially called UKVL Sutherland, The proposed cost of the spaceport construction was £17.3 million, with £2.5 million to be provided by the UK government. The expectation was that two launch pads would be required, to cope with the different fuel types, namely bio-propane for Orbex, and RP-1 for Lockheed Martin's as yet undisclosed vehicle. Initially there was 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…

The facility would be operated by a commercial Launch Pad Operator, and Orbex was given a lease to both build and operate the spaceport in 2022. The submitted planning application shows that the spaceport would host a planned new rocket called Prime by the startup company Orbex. The facility was originally planned to be shared by both Orbex and Lockheed Martin, and to potentially use two separate launch pads, as the two rockets use different propellants. However, the final planning application includes only one launch pad.