Second company plans Shetland rocket launch this year

A second company has signed an agreement to launch a rocket from SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland this year.

HyImpulse Technologies GmbH (HyImpulse) said it would be the second flight of its SR75 suborbital launch vehicle following a successful "lift off" in Australia.

A number of companies hope to use SaxaVord in Unst, the northernmost point in the UK, as a launch site for commercial rockets.

HyImpulse operates in Germany and the United Kingdom.

Co-founder Dr Christian Schmierer said: "Establishing launch operations in Europe is the next step in our road map.

"We're aiming for launch in the late summer."

Parts of the rocket are still being built with a flight licence to be secured.

Schmierer said SR75 was a suborbital rocket: "It doesn't launch satellites into orbit, but it flies across the border of space.

"This is interesting for all customers who would like to fly into space and then recover their experiment or instrument."

HyImpulse said the rocket was designed for "microgravity experiments and atmospheric research".

It carries payloads of up to 250kg (550lbs) with a parachute for recovery. The engine uses paraffin-based solid fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX).

Schmierer confirmed it was a new technology: "We're developing a completely new propulsion system, based on paraffin wax as the fuel - a hybrid rocket which cannot explode.

"The Shetland launch is to show the technology works."

A smaller version of the rocket was launched from Australia in 2024.

The flight will be HyImpulse's first from European territory.

The company said it was aiming for an orbital launch in 2027.

Under the agreement, SaxaVord will provide infrastructure and operational support.

Scott Hammond, Spaceport chief executive, said the contract strengthened the site's position "at the vanguard of UK vertical space launch".