Space / Space port project ‘firmly on track’ to become operational this year
Investor confirms its full support for SaxaVord Spaceport
THE COMPANY building the SaxaVord spaceport has confirmed that the nationally significant project on the UK’s most northerly island continues to be firmly on track.
Meanwhile, one of the main investors in the project, Wild Ventures Ltd, which is owned by Danish billionaire and Highlands landowner Anders Holch Povlsen, said it is “as content as ever” with progress at the spaceport.
Shetland Space Centre Limited was responding to media enquiries following a number of local rumours.
In a short statement a spokesperson for the spaceport said: “The overall project is firmly on track.
“SaxaVord continues to have excellent dialogue with the authorities and is fully expecting to receiving its spaceport licence very soon from the Civil Aviation Authority.
“We are looking forward to hosting vertical rocket launches in the coming months.”
Shetland News also contacted Wild Ventures Limited, one of the space port’s 400 shareholders, with a request to clarify its position.
The company said: “Regarding support for SaxaVord, Wild Ventures Limited remains as content as ever with progress and it’s still giving the team all possible encouragement.
“Progress to date seems very positive, with the facility remaining on course to secure licensing and enter operation before other UK facilities.”
Those behind the multi-million pound project have high hopes that they will receive the crucial spaceport licence from the UK Civil Aviation Authority within weeks.
Should that happen, a first test mission is expected to take off from SaxaVord before the end of the year followed by a first orbital launch, planned by Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), to take place early in 2024.
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