Sutherland Spaceport was first granted planning permission in 2020 and Orbex started work last April. Once fully operational, the spaceport was expected to create around 250 jobs, including 40 in Sutherland and Caithness.

As recently as November, Orbex continued to move ahead with work at Sutherland, including releasing tenders for construction work on the next phases of the facility. It also won approvals to shift tracking antennas to a nearby mountaintop.

However, the firm announced last week it would “pause” construction of Sutherland Spaceport in Scotland and instead use the SaxaVord Spaceport on the island of Unst in the Shetlands for its Prime launch vehicle.

The move, Orbex said, will free up resources to allow the company to focus on launch vehicle development.

“Orbex is first and foremost a launch services specialist. Our primary goal is to support the European space industry by achieving a sustainable series of satellite launches into low Earth orbit. This is best achieved by focusing our resources and talents on developing launch vehicles and associated launch services,” Phil Chambers, chief executive of Orbex, said in a statement.

“This decision will help us to reach first launch in 2025 and provides SaxaVord with another customer to further strengthen its commercial proposition. It’s a win-win for U.K. and Scottish space,” he added.

Orbex had been linked to Spaceport Sutherland since the UK Space Agency announced in 2018 it selected the site for a vertical launch complex. The agency awarded contracts to both Orbex and Lockheed Martin to conduct launches from the site.

As recently as November Orbex continued to move ahead with work at Sutherland, including releasing tenders for construction work on the next phases of the facility. It also won approvals to shift tracking antennas to a nearby mountaintop.

Orbex had not disclosed the full cost of developing the spaceport nor did it state how much it will save by launching from SaxaVord, which will still require construction of facilities to support Prime.

“The decision enables us to direct more funding to the development of our rockets,” an Orbex spokesperson told SpaceNews, without quantifying that funding. “We will have exclusive use of our own pad at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland and we are in the early stages of assessing the infrastructure we need to support the launch of Prime.”