News / Spaceport founder Frank Strang dies aged 67
SAXAVORD Spaceport founder and chief executive Frank Strang has died aged 67 from cancer.
The spaceport announced his death with “great sadness” today (Wednesday), less than a month after Strang revealed he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The pioneering businessman, along with co-founders Scott Hammond and Debbie Strang, began putting together plans for a commercial spaceport in Unst in 2017.
SaxaVord said he had an “unorthodox style, with long hair and cowboy boots”, but also possessed a “legendary drive and determination” to help the project succeed.
Against “seemingly impossible odds”, he had pushed SaxaVord forward to become the UK’s first fully licensed vertical launch spaceport.
Hammond, who is now expected to take over as chief executive, said Strang’s death was “an enormous blow both personally and professionally”.
“When we first identified the prospects for a spaceport at Lamba Ness in Unst, Frank would not take no for an answer and broke through barriers that would have deterred lesser people,” he said.
“He was a real force of nature, and his vision and his grit got us to where we are today, bringing the Unst and Shetland communities, investors and government with us.
“But our mission is not complete – my job now is to deliver not only the first launch but successive launches that establish the UK as Europe’s leader in access to space.
“Both myself and the SaxaVord team feel a strong sense of responsibility to deliver that goal for Frank, and we will, I am in no doubt.”
He added that making the UK the leader for Europe in vertical launch space flight would be “Frank’s legacy, for Shetland, for Scotland and the UK”.
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