North Highland and Moray Space Cluster Strategy

A new report launched today commissioned by Caithness Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership, demonstrates the economic benefits that Space Hub Sutherland will bring to the North Highland and Moray areas.

The report estimates that a Northern Space Cluster could create 740 jobs in the Highlands and Islands and boost the regional economy by £56m per year by the end of this decade.

The North Highland and Moray Space Cluster Strategy, funded by Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), was produced for Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership, which aims to attract a space business cluster to the North Highlands and Moray.

“As a commercial spaceport, Space Hub Sutherland will play a critical role in bringing income and employment to the North Highlands and Moray region,” said Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership chairman Ian Ross. “It will help to retain highly skilled individuals in the North Highlands and offer opportunities to young people to help stem the flow of depopulation. Space Hub Sutherland will unlock further development of the Moray space cluster and support UK and Scottish government objectives for growing the space sector.”

Space Hub Sutherland, which is being developed by HIE, was the first vertical satellite launch site to secure planning permission in the UK and could become Europe’s first continental orbital spaceport.