SCOTTISH aerospace firm Orbex has been granted a 50-year lease to build and operate the first-ever vertical launch site for satellites in the UK, in a move it is estimated to create around 250 new jobs for the area.
Orbex, based in Moray, has signed a lease with development agency Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE) – which in turn leased the land from Melness Crofters’ Estate – on community-owned land on the A’ Mhoine peninsula in north-west Sutherland.