Elon Musk's 'relentless dominance' of space race piling pressure on tiny British upstarts
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Elon Musk’s “relentless dominance” over the international space race has started to pile even more pressure on smaller British upstarts.
Last week, SpaceX achieved a £277billion valuation, while Scottish space companies have relied on wealthy donors, or Government grants, and the UK Space Agency.
On the whole, Scotland has seen much smaller upstarts in comparison to that of the American tech mogul, although it is able to host sub-orbital and low-orbit rocket missions.
As a result of the industry’s work, the Scottish Government has aimed for £4billion of revenues by the end of the decade.
Elon Musk’s “relentless dominance” over the international space race has started to pile even more pressure on smaller British upstarts
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Meanwhile, the construction of the northern project Spaceport Sutherland is currently in progress, as the aerospace company Orbex had initially hoped to send off its initial mission by next year.
The project, which was being built along the A’Mhòine peninsula, will now seek to launch from rival company SaxaVord.
The primary construction has now left behind a road stretching across a peat bog to where the launchpad was meant to have been.
Now, individuals have started to wonder where the millions of pounds poured into funding had gone.
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Individuals in the industry have expressed concerns around the UK's launch prospects, with one source telling The Telegraph: “The UK will have wasted millions because politicians prefer a good headline than technical reality. The north of Scotland is the last place to launch a spacecraft from.”
Scotland's barriers to infrastructure - in addition to its unpredictable weather - have proved problematic for satellite businesses, adding that Musk's "relentless dominance" had placed extensive pressure on small upstarts.
The project was given £14.6million of taxpayers money from the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the UK Space Agency.
An HIE spokesman said: “We want to send a clear message to local people in north Sutherland that we are deeply disappointed at this turn of events.”
Orbex has said that it now predicts that it would launch its first vehicle from Saxavord - possibly as soon as next year - as well as the initial development of a heavier, medium-lift vehicle, which has been named Proxima
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Meanwhile, the Orbex spokesman claimed that it only received £2.3million for the spaceport after it began handling the site in 2022.
A company spokesman said: “We will keep Sutherland Spaceport’s development under constant review.”
Scottish First Minister John Swinney told Holyrood last week that he planned to investigate “what steps can be taken to address what I recognise to be a legitimate issue” over the ways in which the money was used.
However, Scottish Conservative MSP Craig Hoy said: “This sort of wastage is all too common on the SNP’s watch.”
Orbex has said that it now predicts that it would launch its first vehicle from Saxavord - possibly as soon as next year - as well as the initial development of a heavier, medium-lift vehicle, which has been named Proxima.
Chief executive of SaxaVord Frank Strang said: “It makes sense for Orbex to start operations from SaxaVord Spaceport, which is already licensed and in a position to support their upcoming launches.”
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