EMMA RODDICK MSP PRAISES RESILIENT AND DEDICATED SPACEPORT TEAM

Emma Roddick MSP for the Highlands & Islands has praised the resilience and dedication of the team at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst, following an explosion during testing on the site in August.

Ms Roddick visited the site herself, to hear directly from those involved in the project. SaxaVord is Europe’s first fully licensed vertical launch spaceport and is currently developing infrastructure and critical services for orbital test flights.

Commenting, Emma said:

“It was brilliant to be back at the space port in Shetland, to see firsthand the significant progress which has been made since my last visit a year ago.

The work that is going on here is so exciting for the space sector in Scotland and you can tell just how committed the team is to making sure that the project is a success.

It was really interesting to hear how the team is adapting and making improvements to their processes, following a disappointing setback in the summer. It was great to see how eager they are to learn the necessary lessons from this experience and bounce back even stronger.

I look forward to visiting again in future and to hopefully seeing the first launch from the site next year.”