A remote peat bog owned by Scottish crofters is to become the first ‘traditional’ rocket launchpad on the British mainland.
The site, on the A’ Mhoine peninsula in Sutherland, north-west Scotland, will see up to 12 launches a year, with rockets lifting off vertically from the ground.
The location is seen as ideal for launching satellites into an orbit that takes them over the north and south poles. The first launch could be as soon as next year.
The spaceport will strengthen the launch capability for the UK satellite industry.
Until now manufacturers have had to ship their spacecraft abroad for launch.
But the countdown is underway for the first ‘horizontal’ launch at Spaceport Cornwall later this month, with a jumbo jet taking off from Newquay Airport carrying a rocket under its wing. The rocket will be released and fired over the Atlantic Ocean.
Spacehub Sutherland will provide another launch option. The Scottish rocket manufacturer Orbex will build and operate the spaceport, investing £20m in the construction under a 50-year lease.
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Around 40 jobs are expected to be created on the site, a significant boost in an area with poor economic prospects for young people.
Dorothy Pritchard, chair of the Melness Crofters’ Estate, which represents the community, said: “We have seen massive population decline in the area over the past few years and our community is being starved of its lifeblood, young people.
“This is our way – perhaps a less-than-obvious way – of bringing new life back to our area.
“We are excited for the positive impact this will have on our community over the coming years.”
Image: Orbex Prime at Kinloss test stand. Pic: Orbex
Orbex is building what it says is the world’s most environmentally friendly space rocket, with a 3D-printed engine, a re-useable structure and a clean-burning propane fuel derived from vegetable waste.
Chris Larmour, the company’s chief executive, said: “Orbex is the first European launcher company to also manage a dedicated spaceport.
“It is an important competitive advantage to the company, which will make it really easy for us to work with customers as we scale up our operations.”
A two-phase statutory public inquiry into the Southport murders has been formally launched.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the first phase would look at the circumstances around Axel Rudakubana’s attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last summer.
It will focus on issues around policing, the criminal justice system and the multiple agencies involved with the attacker who killed three girls – seven-year-old Elsie Stancombe, six-year-old Bebe King and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.
It follows the revelation Rudakubana had been referred to the government’s Prevent scheme on three occasions, with the cases being closed each time.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
A police officer who was driving a van that followed two teenagers shortly before they died in an e-bike crash will not be prosecuted.
The deaths of Harvey Evans, 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, sparked riots in the Ely area of Cardiff in May 2023.
The officer was facing a dangerous driving allegation but prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.
A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) statement said: “We fully understand that this will be disappointing news for the families of both boys and will offer a meeting with them to explain our reasoning further.”
Rumours on social media that the teenagers were being pursued by police were initially denied.
South Wales Police said none of its vehicles were in Snowden Road at the time of the crash.
But police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) later confirmed it was investigating after video appeared to show them being followed by a van – without blue lights or a siren – minutes before the incident.
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Other footage, however, showed the van turn off and it wasn’t following the boys at the time of the collision.
A key factor under consideration was whether there was any point at which the actions of the officers in the van “constituted a pursuit”.
Image: CCTV showed a police van following the bike moments before it crashed
Detective Chief Inspector Alex Gammampila, who is leading the investigation, called it “an awful incident in which a teenager has lost his life”.
“The thoughts of everyone in the Met remain with Keiron’s family and loved ones as they begin to come to terms with their tragic loss,” the officer added.
The suspects are due to appear at Highbury Corner Youth Court on Monday.