The authorization of the first launch of the vertical space from British soil by a British rocket company was granted by the air security regulator.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) license gives Skyrora the green light from Skyrora based in Glasgow to launch its Skylark L rocket from the Spaceport Saxavord In the Shetland Islands.
“Skyrora is proud to carry out efforts that allow the launching activity of the United Kingdom, and we are impatient to carry out a reliable commercial launch program that benefits us all,” said Volodymyr Levykin, CEO of Skyrora.
“It is essential that the United Kingdom has sovereign launch capacities.”
A Skyrora engineer builds a rocket in the company’s factory near Glasgow
Although this is a step towards this objective, the license does not mean that the Shetlands will compete so early on the Cape Canaveral of America.
Although the CAA license authorizes Skyrora up to 16 launches per year, Saxavord should not be able to facilitate a launch until the beginning of 2026.
The current license is also limited to the under-organization launches of the 11 m high rocket.
Skyrora expects her rocket to reach an altitude between 120 and 130 km – of course the “Karman line” 100 km high, which is the limit of space.
But Skylark L does not have the weight to access a low orbit, the ultimate objective of the emerging industry of “micro-lavenching”.
A Skyrora engineer works on one of the company’s rockets
‘Important milestone’
Like many of its competitors, Skyrora uses this small rocket to test various technologies – and the regulatory environment – before trying an orbital flight with its largest vehicle, Skyrora -XL.
The launch from northern latitudes and the United Kingdom offers easier access to satellites in polar or synchronous orbits.
Smaller rockets potentially mean cheaper and faster launches, offering a “reactive” launch capacity to serve or support the growing number of orbit satellites.
“I am delighted that we have taken this important stage in the British space sector, and I congratulate Skyrora to be the first British company to receive a license to launch rockets,” said the Minister of Aviation and the Mike Kane space.
The United Kingdom, however, was criticized for having been slow to develop an internal spatial capacity since the spatial industry law made it possible in 2018.
The first license for a space launch in the United Kingdom was only granted in 2022, but Richard Branson’s attempt by Virgin Galactic for a launch of horizontal rockets from an airplane failed.
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Another license has been granted Earlier this year at the German micro-launch company RFA But an explosion during their rocket tests in Saxavord delayed its plans for a sub -orbial launch this year.
The changes to the Saxavord Spaceport mean that it may not be ready to accommodate a launch before 2026.
Skyrora told Sky News that if there were significant delays at his Saxavord launch plans, he could consider transferring his CAA license to the Australian regulator.
If this is the case, he expects he can launch Skylarkl from the Australian Womera test range before the end of 2025.
It would undoubtedly be a disappointment for the British government and thousands of space enthusiasts in the United Kingdom, but it would see history repeating itself.
The first (and last) British construction rocket to put an orbit satellite, Black Arrow, launched since Womera in 1971.