HIE buys Sutherland Spaceport out of liquidation, Scotland's space ambitions get a second launch window

Highlands and Islands Enterprise has stepped in to acquire the assets of Sutherland Spaceport Limited from liquidators FRP Advisory, keeping Scotland's only dedicated vertical launch site in public hands. It is a calculated intervention to protect a piece of national infrastructure that, if lost to a fire sale, would have taken years and tens of millions to rebuild. The space sector is watching.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise has acquired the physical assets of Sutherland Spaceport Limited from liquidators FRP Advisory, rescuing the facility from a disorderly wind-down after the collapse of its principal backer, Moray-based launch company Orbex. The spaceport, built on land at A' Mhòine in north Sutherland, was established in 2020 as the launchpad for Orbex's Prime rocket. With Orbex now in administration, HIE has moved quickly to ensure the infrastructure does not disappear with it.

Orbex had positioned itself as one of the most credible small-satellite launch operators in Europe, backed by significant grant funding from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency. The company raised substantial private capital and was widely cited as a flagship of the UK's ambition to host commercial orbital launches from British soil. Its collapse is a setback, but the asset acquisition by HIE signals that the strategic intent behind the spaceport has not changed.

The UK Government's National Space Strategy, published in 2021, identified Scotland as a priority location for launch infrastructure, citing its northerly latitude and relatively uncongested airspace as genuine competitive advantages for polar and sun-synchronous orbits. The Scottish Government has backed that position, with the Scottish Space Leadership Council estimating that Scotland's space sector already employs over 9,600 people and contributes more than £4 billion annually to the economy. Sutherland sits at the front end of that supply chain.

HIE's intervention is a textbook example of a development agency doing exactly what it exists to do: stepping in when the market fails and private capital retreats, to hold strategic assets for the long term. According to HIE, the acquisition preserves the option to bring in a new operator once market conditions allow. That is a sensible position. The global market for small satellite launches is forecast by the Satellite Industry Association to grow at over 15 percent annually through 2030. Scotland's window is not closed; it has simply been reset.

For the wider Scottish startup and innovation ecosystem, the story here is not the failure of Orbex, companies in deep-tech and aerospace fail; that is the nature of frontier development. The story is that Scotland's public institutions are mature enough to absorb that failure without abandoning the infrastructure. That matters enormously to any investor or founder considering a bet on Scottish space, advanced manufacturing, or clean energy sectors. Resilience at the institutional level is a competitive advantage just as much as talent or geography.

What this means for you: If your business touches advanced manufacturing, engineering, logistics, or technical services in the Highlands, keep a close eye on HIE's next move with Sutherland Spaceport, a new operator will need a supply chain built locally. Beyond that, this episode is a reminder to check whether your own sector has HIE or Scottish Enterprise programmes designed to de-risk exactly the kind of infrastructure your business depends on. The support is often there; the trick is knowing to ask. Business Gateway Scotland (www.bgateway.com) is the first call.