Space Commerce

Sutherland Spaceport Opponent Loses In Court

By Keith Cowing
August 20, 2021
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Sutherland Spaceport Opponent Loses In Court
Sutherland Spaceport - Artist's Concept
UK Space Agency

Plans to build Sutherland Spaceport Received a green light when a ruling against lawsuit filed to stop the spaceport was announced.
The ruling from the Judicial Review, instigated by Danish ASOS billionaire Anders Povlsen, to stop plans for Sutherland Spaceport can be read here. The judge ruled against Povlsen on every count. There are 62 individual comments from the judge including “none of the grounds of challenge is well founded” (comment 61) and “I shall … repel the petitioner’s pleas-in-law, and refuse the petition” (comment 62).

Needless to say Orbital Express Launch Ltd. aka Orbex, the company with plans to launch a payloads from Sutherland Spaceport with its Orbex Prime is happy with the decision. According to Chris Larmour, CEO of Orbex: “This is extremely positive news for a wide variety of communities and businesses and paves the way for the Pathfinder launch of small satellites from Sutherland Spaceport in Scotland. We’re especially pleased for the crofters of the Melness Crofters Estate, who will be able to protect and develop their community with modern jobs. Sutherland is still the only UK spaceport with planning permission and now, with this ruling, the countdown to space launch from the UK can begin.”

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.