UK's Homegrown Rocket Company Skyrora Receives Landmark Launch Licence

Britain has awarded its inaugural space launch licence to Skyrora, a Scottish start-up, allowing satellite launches from the UK's first vertical launch spaceport. The company will operate at SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands, contributing significantly to the UK's burgeoning space industry, projected to reach over $1 trillion by 2030.

In a groundbreaking development for Britain's space sector, Skyrora has been granted the country's first space launch licence, enabling it to send satellites into orbit from Scotland's debut vertical launch spaceport.

The Scottish company will utilize the SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands, which secured a crucial safety licence last year. This follows Germany's Rocket Factory Augsburg, the first to obtain a launch licence from the site earlier this year.

As the global space market is envisioned to surpass $1 trillion by 2030, the UK aims to expand its launch capabilities, previously hindered by a failed horizontal launch. A successful launch by Skyrora could reinvigorate the sector.

(With inputs from agencies.)