by With Britain’s first vertical launch expected to lift off from Shetland this year, the UK could soon become the European destination for space missions.
But behind the scenes, an army of ‘Space Inspectors’ is ensuring that, despite reaching the stars, companies have their feet firmly planted on the ground.
It’s the job of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to make sure things get out of hand – but only at the right time.
“If you mix hazardous materials too quickly, you get a firework before you intend to have a firework,” said Emma Cuddy, chief space engineer at the CAA, who heads the Space Inspectorate.
“We want to make sure they have the mitigation in place to stop that.”
More than 2,200 companies work in Britain’s £65 billion space economy from satellite manufacturers to spaceports, from software to observation. The industry has grown significantly in recent years, and aims to capture 10 percent of the global space market by 2030.
But with any new technology comes risk. When Virgin Orbit attempted the first vertical launch from Spaceport Cornwall in January 2023, a rocket fuel filter came loose, causing one of the engines to overheat, scuppering not only the mission but also the company, which returned soon after.
CAA space inspectors have warrants giving them the authority to compel companies to open their doors for monitoring and have powers to stop or ban activities, and suspend or revoke licences.
There are currently three senior inspectors, supported by many more qualified engineers recruited from the police, the Border Force, the Health and Safety Executive and the aviation industry.
Main focus
“Obviously the main focus is on safety,” Cuddy said. “There are other things we look at such as national interest, national security, international obligations, finances and technical resources of that person.
“But really what you want to do is go into an organization and see what they are like as an organization, understand how they work, the culture. We are trying to promote safety management and learn from mistakes.
“There would be red flags of people not being competent, not understanding the jobs they do. If you go in somewhere and it’s a mess, for example, I know I’m going to find things easily.”
Cuddy began her career as an aeronautical engineer for British Airways, working for the company for 17 years, before moving to the CAA in 2017. Over the last seven years the pace of technological change has been dramatic, and it has been challenging to keep up.
Sixth sense
Determining whether a company is playing fast and loose is now the sixth sense based on years of experience, and is largely about having the right systems in place.
“There’s so much change and innovation and every launch vehicle is different, and you have different fuels and you have different systems,” she said.
“When I enter an organization, I’m walking, I’m looking, and you immediately understand what kind of organization this is, what their priorities are, and whether the staff know what they’re doing.
“We don’t do a technical assessment of their rocket or their satellite, but we look at their assessment and ask if that seems like a reasonable argument. A satellite may have introduced a new battery, but how much history does that battery have? Has received years of use from other organizations that prove its reliability.
A bigger picture
“It’s not something you can teach, it’s something you choose because you’ve done it many times. You’re thinking back on everything you’ve heard, everything you’ve seen and how it fits into the bigger picture.”
“Our aim is to make sure the processes are in place so that if something were to happen, they would be able to establish themselves and put an end to it.”
To date the team has not had to enforce and has been successful in working with operators to achieve compliance.
Last December, the CAA granted a spaceport license to SaxaVord in Unst, Shetland, and is expected to approve its “range” license in the coming weeks, which allows the spaceport to clear the area around the rocket’s flight path. . All launch operators will also need a launch licence.
Test rocket
Edinburgh-based aerospace firm Skyrora is the first to take off from SaxaVord, and will begin with a small test rocket that will reach an altitude of about 65 miles, the start of the Kármán line, which marks the limit of space.
If successful, the company hopes to make an orbital flight by the end of the year.
Lockheed Martin is also expected to launch the UK’s Pathfinder mission from the site, while German company Rocket Factory Augsburg has already installed a rocket platform – or stool – for its first launch.
Rocket builder HyImpulse, based near Stuttgart, also announced earlier this month that it was planning an orbital rocket launch program from SaxaVord from late 2025, with sub-orbital test flights next summer.
Other spaceports across Britain, including Sutherland, Argyll and Prestwick, are expected to be operational by the end of the decade.
