A rocket engine at the UK’s first licensed vertical launch site in the Shetlands has exploded during a launch test.
The explosion took place on Monday evening at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst, the northernmost island in the Shetlands, Scotland.
This was part of a launch test conducted by the space tech firm Rocket Factory Augsburg. The German group is performing tests as it prepares for its first launch from the Scottish spaceport.
The company said no one was injured in the explosion, which came three months after a successful rocket test from the same port.
“This was a test, and test campaigns are designed to identify issues prior to the next stage,” a spokesman for SaxaVord said.
“We will work with RFA to understand and learn from the causes and support them as they move forward to the next phase of their preparations.”
The British subsidiary of Rocket Factory Ausburg received £3.5m in funding from the UK Space Agency in October 2023 to support its launch ambitions in SaxaVord Spaceport.
SaxaVord Spaceport became the UK’s first licensed site for vertical rocket launches in December last year. Vertical launches refer to rockets taking off from an upright position, as opposed to horizontal launches in which an aeroplane carries a spacecraft towards orbit.
The former Royal Airforce base was approved to host up to 30 launches a year by the Civil Aviation Authority.
German company HyImpulse and Scottish firm Skyrora also hope to conduct rocket launches from the spaceport.
In 2022, Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay was licensed for horizontal launches.