More than 30 accommodation units now proposed for space centre launch staff
A TOTAL of 32 temporary accommodation units are now being proposed in Unst for SaxaVord Spaceport launch staff.
This is spread between 23 modular units at the old pitch at Saxa Vord, and nine on land at the nearby Taftens.
Instead, the two new applications involving fewer units – covering a timespan of five years – have now been submitted to Shetland Islands Council planners.
Most of the cabins proposed have a floor area of 29 square metres.
They feature a sleeping room as well as a kitchenette and a bathroom.
Planning documents say that the external cladding is proposed to be from “Neolith Nero Zimbabwe tiles by Dekton, made from Neolith’s sintered stone, which is a highly engineered, ultracompact surface produced from 100% natural raw materials”.
They added that the development has been “carefully designed in response to its site, context and operational requirements”.
It is in the vicinity of the former RAF Saxa Vord camp, which the late space centre chief Frank Strang bought from the Ministry of Defence in the early 2000s before turning it into a visitor resort.
The first launch from SaxaVord Spaceport was expected to take place this summer, but plans are now uncertain.
This is because launch operator Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) had to “destack” its flight vehicle at the spaceport to investigate an issue it had encountered.
The German company had been planning to undertake a hot fire test prior to the vertical launch.
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