Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Enterprise has announced that local contractor Macaulay Askernish has been selected to construct the enabling infrastructure for Spaceport 1 in North Uist. This will be the third rocket launch site in Scotland to break ground, after Sutherland Spaceport in Melness and SaxaVord Spaceport on Unst, Shetland.
Approval for the construction of Spaceport 1 was granted in 2023. The spaceport, which could be operational by 2025, is being positioned as the UK’s only dedicated commercial suborbital launch site. The spaceport has been permitted to conduct up to ten suborbital rocket launches per year.
Macaulay Askernish is handling the first phase of the site’s construction, which involves upgrading access tracks, building parking facilities, and installing fibre broadband. It also includes studies to evaluate the site’s future potential and the best ways to preserve its cultural artefacts. This initial phase of construction is being led by the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the area’s local council.
“Breaking ground at Scolpaig is a considerable milestone for the Comhairle and for Spaceport 1,” said Councillor Paul Steele, Leader of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. “As the UK’s only dedicated commercial suborbital launch site, Spaceport 1 will enable end-to-end science, technology, and space systems development for the first time on British soil, closing a significant gap in the space value chain.”
The Highlands and Islands Enterprise, a Scottish government agency focused on regional development, has allocated £947,000 for the construction of the site’s enabling infrastructure. Additionally, the Comhairle is contributing £675,000 from its 2023-2028 capital programme. The total cost of the enabling works project is estimated to be £2.6 million.
After the construction of the enabling infrastructure is complete, which is expected to occur by Spring 2025, a private sector operator will take over to complete the second phase of construction and manage the spaceport.
The development of Spaceport 1 is not without its detractors. An unsuccessful petition started by a group called Friends of Scolpaig North Uist in 2019 opposed its construction, stating that by going ahead the local council would be “destroying and militarising the landscape and ecosystem that exists here.
