Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has acquired the assets of Sutherland Spaceport Ltd, an Orbex subsidiary that was established to develop a vertical launch site on the north coast of Scotland.
In a 25 August announcement, HIE said it had acquired the assets from the company’s joint liquidators and would now review how the partially developed site could be used.
“Having acquired these assets, our next move will be to work with the local community and players in the space sector to inform future decisions on how to make the most of the spaceport’s potential to deliver long-term economic benefits,” said David Oxley, director of strategic projects at HIE.
Despite the uncertainty, both Oxley and Scotland’s cabinet secretary for economy, tourism and transport, Stephen Flynn, signalled support for the continued development of the planned launch facility. Work on the infrastructure that would support vertical launches from the site ceased in December 2024 after Orbex announced it was pausing construction to focus its resources on the development of a new medium-lift rocket called Proxima.
The sale of Sutherland Spaceport Ltd’s assets follows its parent company Orbex’s collapse into administration. The launch company had been attempting to raise additional capital to complete the development of its smaller Prime rocket through what was ultimately an unsuccessful Series D funding round.
In January, Orbex appeared to have found a potential lifeline when The Exploration Company signed a letter of intent to acquire the business. However, the acquisition fell through in early February, leaving Orbex with few options and prompting it to begin insolvency proceedings on 11 February. The company ultimately closed its doors and entered administration on 18 February.
Orbex’s collapse did not immediately hit Sutherland Spaceport Ltd, which only entered compulsory liquidation on 18 June. Its assets, including infrastructure already constructed at the partially developed launch site, were then made available for sale by liquidators from London-based FRP Advisory.
