{"id":23748,"date":"2025-08-05T22:23:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/uk-regulator-grants-first-vertical-launch-license-to-scottish-rocket-firm-skyrora\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T22:23:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:23:00","slug":"uk-regulator-grants-first-vertical-launch-license-to-scottish-rocket-firm-skyrora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/uk-regulator-grants-first-vertical-launch-license-to-scottish-rocket-firm-skyrora\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Regulator Grants First Vertical Launch License to Scottish Rocket Firm Skyrora"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After nearly a three-year wait, Scottish space company Skyrora has secured the United Kingdom\u2019s first vertical launch license for a domestically based rocket firm, paving the way for suborbital missions from the SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"This Rocket Waited 3 YEARS for a Launch License... | Skyrora Skylark L\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J1nODTt6NfQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-22=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The approval, dated July 24 but announced by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Aug. 5, marks a milestone for Britain\u2019s emerging space industry, though it follows a similar license issued to German firm Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) in January for orbital attempts from the same site.<\/p>\n<p>The license authorizes Skyrora to conduct up to 16 launches annually of its Skylark L suborbital rocket, with a maximum of two per month and one every 24 hours, subject to additional approvals such as insurance and spaceport arrangements.<br \/>\n<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-108456\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-28-06-692.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1514\" height=\"840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-28-06-692.jpg 1514w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-28-06-692-350x194.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-28-06-692-630x350.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-28-06-692-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-28-06-692-1170x649.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1514px) 100vw, 1514px\">While the permit is now active, the company\u2019s first flight is not imminent and could slip into 2026 as preparations continue.<\/p>\n<p>Skyrora, founded in 2017, has adopted an iterative development strategy, progressing through a series of small suborbital vehicles named Skylark to refine technologies for future orbital capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier models, including Skylark Nano and Micro, relied on solid rocket motors, but Skylark L\u2014a near 12-meter tall vehicle capable of carrying a 50-kilogram payload\u2014serves primarily as a testbed for propellants and systems destined for the company\u2019s flagship orbital rocket, Skyrora XL.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-108455\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-25-08-526.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1514\" height=\"840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-25-08-526.jpg 1514w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-25-08-526-350x194.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-25-08-526-630x350.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-25-08-526-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-25-08-526-1170x649.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1514px) 100vw, 1514px\">The Skyrora XL, designed to deliver up to 315 kilograms of small satellites into orbit, draws comparisons to Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron due to its similar payload capacity.<\/p>\n<p>However, the XL stands taller at nearly 23 meters and wider at 2.2 meters in diameter\u2014nearly double Electron\u2019s 1.2 meters\u2014while featuring carbon composite construction, nine 3D-printed engines on the first stage, a vacuum-optimized engine on the second, and a third kick stage for precise orbital insertions.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-108457\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-24-46-623.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1514\" height=\"840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-24-46-623.jpg 1514w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-24-46-623-350x194.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-24-46-623-630x350.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-24-46-623-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-24-46-623-1170x649.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1514px) 100vw, 1514px\">This performance parity despite the larger size stems from Skyrora\u2019s propellant choice: kerosene fuel paired with high-test peroxide (HTP) as the oxidizer. HTP, a room-temperature storable compound, simplifies engine design, reduces cryogenic handling challenges, and promotes cleaner combustion.<\/p>\n<p>It echoes the propellant used in Britain\u2019s Black Arrow rocket of the 1960s, which successfully orbited a satellite even though the program had been canceled before this launch in the early 1970s for unrelated reasons.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-108454\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-26-00-620.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1514\" height=\"840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-26-00-620.jpg 1514w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-26-00-620-350x194.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-26-00-620-630x350.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-26-00-620-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NSF-2025-08-05-17-26-00-620-1170x649.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1514px) 100vw, 1514px\">Skyrora further emphasizes sustainability by producing its own kerosene, dubbed Ecosene, from unrecyclable plastic waste. The company claims Ecosene lowers pollutant emissions and enhances burn efficiency compared to traditional RP-1 kerosene.<\/p>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p>Development milestones include a 2022 test of the Skyrora XL\u2019s second stage and a prior Skylark L launch from Iceland that year, which ended in failure. Following that setback, Skyrora applied for the UK license, culminating in this week\u2019s approval after an extended regulatory process that has drawn comparisons to faster timelines elsewhere in the industry.<\/p>\n<p>With commercial interest in its suborbital offerings and ambitions for orbital flights, Skyrora\u2019s license represents a step toward revitalizing UK launch capabilities. The company must now finalize operational details before rolling out Skylark L for its inaugural UK mission.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Lead image: Screenshot from Skyroma CGI video showing launch from SaxaVord).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Europe's Premiere Spaceport - SaxaVord - NSF Live: Europe's Future in Space\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C_dDyqd0Yq0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-22=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After nearly a three-year wait, Scottish space company Skyrora has secured the United Kingdom\u2019s first vertical launch license for a domestically based rocket firm, paving the way for suborbital missions from the SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. The approval, dated July 24 but announced by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Aug. 5, marks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7463,7208,6340],"class_list":["post-23748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-saxavord","tag-skyrora","tag-uk"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}