Spaceport moves to mountain summit despite objections from Scotland's richest man

A mountain summit will become a rocket surveillance site for the country’s latest spaceport after objections from Scotland’s richest man were sidelined.

An ‘antenna park’ will be built on top of Ben Tongue in Assynt to track the trajectories of rockets fired from Sutherland Spaceport - some which could take place at night - around five miles away.

The Sutherland Spaceport. PIC:Wachucik/Abermedia/Orbex/PA Wire | Michal Wachucik/Abermedia/Orbex/PA Wire

Wildland Ltd, the company owned by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen that manages his seven estates in the area, objected to the antenna park on the grounds of impact on the environment, wildlife and the wider scenic area.

Traffic movements, lighting on the mountain top and facilities for those wishing to witness a rocket launch from the summit, where several telecommunications masts already stand, were also raised as concerns.

READ MORE: Scotland’s largest landowner and the changing face of a Highland village

The submission was Wildland’s latest stand against the project, with Mr Povlsen earlier launching an unsuccessful judicial review against the original approval. Meanwhile, he gave more than £1 million to support a spaceport in Shetland.

Now, Forres-based Orbex, which specialises in the orbital launches of small satellites, is set to embark on a test launch next year.

A statement from Orbex said: “We welcome the decision by the North Planning Applications Committee to grant us planning approval for the changes we proposed to the original application for the Sutherland Spaceport. We now have permission to make changes to reduce the size and footprint of certain parts of the spaceport site, relocate the antenna park and realign the access track.”

Anders Holch Povlsen, Scotland's richest man and largest landowner. | Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima

The spaceport scheme, which is being built on land managed by the the Melness Crofters Estate, has won broad support given its potential to address the impact of depopulation, an ageing population and a lack of services in the area.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise said 250 jobs could be created in the region, including 40 in Sutherland and Caithness, with £1 billion in gross value added (GVA) generated over the next 30 years.

Moving the antenna park will allow Orbex greater “trajectory oversight” of launches, the company earlier said. Other objections to the mountain antenna park were also received.

Planning consultant Ian Kelly, who made a submission to planners on Wildland’s behalf, said moving the antenna park should have been subject to its own planning application to evaluate the full impact of the scheme.

The submission said: “It is clear that the intention is to have the option of night-time launches. That would mean night-time activity at and on the approaches to the Ben Tongue summit.

“That gives rise to a series of night-time effects, including lighting and noise, that will require to be fully assessed and then controlled.

“In terms of transportation effects, there will be an increase in vehicular traffic with additional journeys, a changed pattern of scheme specific journeys and a changed pattern of journeys with various sizes of vehicles needing to access the summit area.

“This all needs to be assessed comprehensively taking into account other traffic generating developments in the wider area rather than being something that is partly scoped out of the assessment.”

He said the issue of visitors to Ben Tongue - and any associated disturbance to residents - “needed the most careful” assessment. Meanwhile, the impact on the Kyle of Tongue National Scenic Area had not been fully tested, Mr Kelly added.

Orbex could not confirm if rockets will be launched at night, adding that launch times would “vary” based on client needs. A visitor management plan was now being developed that would include a range of suggested viewing areas to “help manage the number of visitors coming to the area”, the company said.