THERE’s been something of a buzz about the offices of Edinburgh-based space company Skyrora as it takes its next major step towards reaching orbit with its second rocket launch.
It happened at Kildermorie Estate, Rossshire, when “Skylark Nano” – a two metre rocket – reached an altitude of around 6km.
Following clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority and watched by the launch team and key investors, the rocket rapidly accelerated to Mach 1.46 – more than 1811km per hour (1125mph).
Gordon McNeil, Skyrora’s safety range officer, said: “There’s a whole host of positives that we take from this latest launch, from the quality of our processes and ground control systems, through to the proven accuracy of our computer simulated flight trajectory ... There’s a real buzz of excitement around the Scottish and UK space scene and we’re proud to be playing an important role in that.”
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