Space Watch UK Newsletter – January 2025
Posted: 30th January 2025
A belated Happy New Year from Space Watch UK!
Welcome back to our monthly Space Watch newsletter, with news and updates from our campaign and beyond. In this month’s mailing, we cover news of failed spaceports in Scotland, new resources for local campaigns, and our day conference in February.
Sutherland Spaceport Shelved
December saw the news that developers Orbex had suspended work on their planned spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland, after 18 months of construction at the proposed launch site. Questions persist surrounding the fate of the millions in public funds allocated to the project, with locals left in the dark after the abrupt announcement.
For our blog, Space Watch’s Peter Burt delves into the flawed processes beneath the spaceport’s apparent failure, and the questions that should now face the Scottish government and the country’s extensive spaceport programme. In the days that followed, the story received coverage in The National, The Telegraph, and BBC News, pointing to widespread concern and public interest in the issue.
Space Watch also wrote to Scottish First Minister John Swinney, asking for a ‘fundamental review of the policies and mechanisms through which the Scottish government funds the space sector’. You can find our letter here.
New resource – For Heaven’s Sake pamphlet
We are pleased to have produced a concise, 4-page pamphlet version of our For Heaven’s Sake report on the UK’s role in the militarisation of space, perfect for local groups to distribute at events and rallies. The pamphlet introduces spaces militarisation and provides up-to-date information on planned space projects across the country, including a map of these. Please write to us at [email protected] if your group would like copies, in exchange for a donation to cover postage.