Approval for first space rocket launch from UK as licence granted
Share:
The German company which aims to be the first to launch a satellite from the most northerly tip in the UK has been officially licensed for spaceflight by the regulator. The decision from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the final significant piece of regulatory approval needed for Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport on Unst, the northernmost of the Shetland Islands.
The privately-owned spaceport has already been granted a spaceport licence and a range control licence by the CAA. RFA’s first test flight, which it hopes to carry out in 2025, would be the first vertical launch of a satellite from European soil and it is the first company to receive a licence for this type of launch.
Known as RFA One, the launcher is a 30m-tall three-stage rocket which can deliver a 1,300kg payload to a sun-synchronous orbit around Earth. During a static fire test last year, the first stage of the initial rocket caught fire and exploded, meaning plans for the first launch to take place in 2024 were pushed back.
Chief commercial officer Jorn Spurmann said securing the launch licence is a “groundbreaking moment for RFA and for Europe’s space industry”. He added: “Securing the first-ever launch licence outside ESA’s established site in Kourou (in French Guyana) is not just a regulatory milestone – it’s a powerful endorsement of our technical excellence and a turning point for European space innovation.
