SNP ministers have intervened in Scotland’s space race by urging the UK Government to help deliver rocket launches from Sutherland by next year.
Correspondence obtained by this newspaper shows Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop lobbied Chancellor Rishi Sunak to seek his backing for the £17.3 million plan.
In the letter, she described Space Hub Sutherland as the Scottish spaceport project that is “best placed” to achieve its first launch by the target date of next year.
And Ms Hyslop asked the chancellor to help remove “any potential blockages that could inhibit delivery” of the scheme.
I feel Space Hub Sutherland is the best placed of the ports to achieve first launch and I would welcome your support in removing any potential blockages that could inhibit delivery.”
Fiona Hyslop
The government’s move will be welcomed by supporters of Space Hub Sutherland, which is backed by public cash and won planning permission for the site at the Melness Crofters Estate last year, although it still has legal and financial hurdles to overcome.
However, the ministerial intervention risked upsetting the groups behind rival vertical-launching developments at the Western Isles and Shetland.
The UK Space Agency has given backing to both Space Hub Sutherland and Shetland Space Centre.
Ms Hyslop’s letter was written on December 8, one day after Business Minister Ivan McKee wrote to UK Science Minister Amanda Solloway, highlighting the importance of the Sutherland scheme.
The communication followed an announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in November that an RAF Space Command would be established, with the first rockets expected to launch from Scotland in 2022.
Ms Hyslop wrote: “Whilst the prime minister’s Scottish launch target for 2022 is clearly ambitious, I believe it is achievable with the collective efforts of our two governments, continuing industry support, a supportive regulatory environment and construction of the necessary infrastructure.”
The economy secretary asked for the Holyrood government to be involved in future talks relating to the new Space Command and other agencies, while singling out the Sutherland project for support.
“As Scotland is critical to the realisation of UK space ambitions I think it would be beneficial for all parties if the Scottish Government had greater levels of engagement with the National Space Council,” she wrote.
“Finally, as the only one of the vertical launch spaceports to have achieved planning, as well as the only one in receipt of substantial funding from the public purse, I feel Space Hub Sutherland is the best placed of the ports to achieve first launch and I would welcome your support in removing any potential blockages that could inhibit delivery.”
Mr McKee had made a similar point to Ms Solloway in his letter a day earlier, as he highlighted the importance of Forres-based firm Orbex, HIE’s launch partner at Sutherland.
He wrote: “As we discussed Space Hub Sutherland is the only spaceport in the UK to have achieved planning consent, giving it a realistic chance of becoming Europe’s first launch site.
“Their partnership with the vehicle manufacturer Orbex is of major importance to launch ambitions and wider economic benefits, as it offers the prospects of full manufacturing capability here in Scotland and the UK.
“Like us, Orbex share our vision for an environmentally considerate space sector that can be a force for good in the global fight against climate change.”
Space Hub Sutherland secured planning permission last summer, but the decision is being challenged in the courts by Wildland Limited, owned by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, who is now investing in the Shetland project.
Frank Strang, chief executive of Shetland Space Centre, said: “Shetland Space Centre has just submitted its full planning application, and as the chosen site for the UK Pathfinder project is working closely with Lockheed Martin and the UK Space Agency towards first launch in spring 2022.”
US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is developing launch operations at Shetland Space Centre’s site at Unst, having initially been involved in the Sutherland proposal.
HIE, a Scottish Government-funded agency, has approved the £17.3m cost of Space Hub Sutherland in principle, with £9.8m coming from its own budget, £2.5m from the UK Space Agency and the remaining £5m being sought from the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA).
We reported in October that its officials were preparing a detailed business case for the project to go before the organisation’s board and the Scottish Government for approval “in the coming months”.
It emerged at the time that HIE was seeking confirmation that Space Hub Sutherland continued to be a national strategic project, aligned with the infrastructure plans of both the Scottish and Westminster governments.
Spaceport projects in the Highlands and islands have been competing to become the UK’s first for several years, with a row erupting in 2019 about the role of HIE in the process.
Reacting to Ms Hyslop’s letter, one Scottish space industry source said: “We would like to think that the Scottish Government, if it is seeking public funding for space, would do so equitably for all viable spaceport sites in Scotland.”
Scottish Government eyes ‘complementary spaceports’
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government wants to grow Scotland’s space sector and achieving a vertical launch capability from Space Hub Sutherland has been specifically identified in our Programme for Government.
“We are working to position Scotland as Europe’s leading space nation and capture a £4 billion share of the global space market by 2030. To maximise the economic benefits for communities across the country, we are taking a co-ordinated approach with complementary spaceports offering a range of expertise and facilities.
“Space Hub Sutherland is the first to have achieved the milestone of planning permission. Since the issue of these letters, a second project, located in Shetland, has now lodged an application for planning permission with the local authority.”