The first rocket launchpad constructed in the UK for more than 50 years is now in place at the Orbex test site in Kinloss, Scotland.

Orbex LP1 is the first launchpad of its kind to be built in the UK since the High Down Rocket Test Site facility on the Isle of Wight, which was decommissioned in the early 1970s[i]. High Down was the test site for the Black Arrow rocket, the first – and so far only – British-made rocket to successfully deliver a satellite into Earth’s orbit, launching from Woomera in Australia on October 28, 1971[ii].

The new launchpad – known as ‘Orbex LP1’ – recently completed an 80-mile road trip from Peterhead to Kinloss on two trucks, accompanied by a police escort. The three-hour journey through the dramatic Scottish countryside during sun, rain and snow was captured in a short film which is available at: https://vimeo.com/677299154

The film also shows the 40-tonne structure being crane-lifted into place at the Orbex rocket launch test site at Kinloss.

Orbex LP1 was fabricated by Motive Offshore Group, a leading Scottish company specialising in the design and manufacture of marine and lifting equipment. It was constructed onsite at Motive’s headquarters in Banff, Scotland, and is built and tested to meet strict international standards.

Full ‘dress rehearsals’ of launch procedures for the Orbex ‘Prime’ rocket can now take place at the test site. Orbex Prime is a micro-launcher designed to transport small satellites weighing around 150kg to low Earth orbit. It will eventually launch from its ‘home’ spaceport at Sutherland in the North of Scotland.