First British-made rocket to launch from UK soil
A British-made rocket will attempt to reach space from home soil for the first time later this year, with the project going ahead after receiving £20m in taxpayer funding.
Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, announced the investment package for Scotland-based space company Orbex on Wednesday, paving the way for it to launch its first rocket from the Shetland Islands by the end of 2025.
The start-up is building the 62ft Orbex Prime launcher at a factory in Forres, the north of Scotland, which will be tasked with carrying small satellites to orbit.
Orbex, which employs around 140 people, is one of a number of space businesses racing to be the first to complete a successful launch from Britain after the failure of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit in 2023.
It is hoped that a successful mission could set the UK on a path to providing an alternative to more established space giants, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX, while also giving Britain the ability to carry out its own space missions.
Mr Kyle told The Telegraph that the upcoming launch was a 'unique opportunity' for the UK to get ahead of its European rivals and would bring 'prestige' to the domestic space sector.
He also highlighted how the investment forms part of Sir Keir Starmer's attempt to 'hardwire' growth into all Cabinet decisions.
Mr Kyle said: 'Space is one of the global high-growth sectors. We want to seek to harness that.'
He added that the UK would not be merely trying to imitate SpaceX's recent efforts launching satellites, claiming that Britain will not just become a 'mini-America'.
'We do have unique assets here because of our geography and skills,' he said.
If Orbex completes its project, it will be the first UK-made rocket capable of orbital missions since Black Arrow, which last flew in 1971.
Black Arrow completed just one orbital mission, which was conducted from a base in the Australian outback, and never flew from the UK.
By contrast, Orbex is plotting its launch from SaxaVord, a spaceport on the island of Unst in the far north of the UK.
Other companies, such as Edinburgh's Skyrora and German business RFA are also hoping to host missions from the former RAF base.
Meanwhile, a rocket base in Norway is also competing to become the first location in Western Europe to host a successful orbital mission.
Prior to receiving its £20m investment from the Government, Orbex had planned to manage its own rocket base on the Scottish mainland.
However, it pulled the plug on the project last year to focus on developing its low-carbon rocket design.
The decision to drop the Highlands spaceport was met with dismay from local groups, including Highlands and Islands Enterprise – a development agency – which said it was 'deeply disappointed' by the move.
However, Mr Kyle said the UK's space strategy was now 'much more focused', claiming that the department had inherited a 'series of really interesting projects that just did not add up'.
'There was no broader thinking,' he said.
He said that the UK would soon be able to 'design, test, build and launch British rockets, carrying British satellites, from British soil'.
The investment in Orbex will be in the form of a convertible loan – a type of debt that can be converted into equity.
Separately, asked whether No 10 would reconsider some of its tax rises to focus on growth, Mr Kyle said global companies were most concerned about cutting red tape and planning reform.
He also said the UK needed to 'grasp with both hands' the opportunity offered by AI.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Here is Why Sable Offshore (SOC) Fell This Week
The share price of Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) fell by 4.66% between June 3 and June 10, 2025, putting it among the Energy Stocks that Lost the Most This Week. Let's shed some light on the development. Copyright: 1971yes / 123RF Stock Photo Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) is a Houston-based independent upstream company focused on developing the prolific Santa Ynez Unit in federal waters offshore California. Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) continues to sink after Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Donna Geck ordered the company to halt restart efforts on the operation's onshore pipeline system while a related lawsuit is being resolved. The restraining order will remain in effect through at least mid-July and could even be extended. As a result, Sable has now pushed back their restart timeline from the beginning of July to August 1, 2025. Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) posted significant gains in May after the company announced that it had restarted oil production at the previously dormant Santa Ynez Unit. However, the stock has now sunk by more than 30% over the last two weeks following the interventions by the court and the California Coastal Commission. While we acknowledge the potential of SOC as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 Cheap Energy Stocks to Buy Now and Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What a pastor's fight over financial transparency in SBC achieved despite his latest loss
DALLAS — South Carolina pastor Rhett Burns set out to change how the Southern Baptist Convention thinks about financial transparency, and the denomination's top policymaking body defeated many of his hopes. But Burns' advocacy didn't fall on deaf ears, as his congregation at First Baptist Church (FBC) Travelers Rest can attest to. 'It's God's money and we want to have an open hand and be up front with everybody,' Ron Tweedy, a deacon at FBC Travelers Rest, said in an interview. 'And at the end of the day, I just have the same expectation for our denomination as I do for our church.' Tweedy was one of five parishioners to accompany their pastor to Dallas this week as delegates, called messengers, on behalf of FBC Travelers Rest, a congregation of no more than 100. The FBC Travelers Rest delegation cheered on their pastor at the SBC annual meeting as Burns called for stronger requirements for SBC-affiliated agencies to publicly disclose more details about spending, including the salaries of top executives. Burns advocated for the same basic SBC policy changes at the 2023 and 2024 SBC annual meetings, and this year he yet again he faced resistance. Almost none of the legislative proposals that Burns and his allies pushed for moved forward in any meaningful way, and a June 11 floor debate highlighted the differing views among Southern Baptists about how to strengthen financial accountability. Though divided, messengers at the Dallas meeting displayed a greater interest in the denomination's financial health and how to best monitor that health going forward. These differing sentiments emerged when Burns brought a proposed measure that dealt with reporting requirements about executive pay. Burns argues that requiring SBC-affiliated agencies, called entities, to publish detailed financial information like executive pay helps promote trust between those entities and everyday Southern Baptists. The Nashville-based denomination's collective budget, called the Cooperative Program, receives income from church giving and supports 10 major entities. 'I wish we could get back to a point where we trust one another more,' Burns said in an interview. Burns believes having the right guardrails in place instills more confidence in Southern Baptists that entities are responsibly spending that income received from church giving. But a legislative debate dealing with one of Burns' proposals faced fierce opposition from other messengers. 'Is there anything significant to be gained by simply knowing how much money certain people make?" John Piwetz, pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, said during a June 11 debate on the floor of the convention. "It would inevitably generate disagreements, envy and division.' 'I've learned that what matters more than transparency is integrity," Piwetz said. "Publishing salaries is not a solution, it only causes more issues.' Piwetz was speaking against a proposal from Burns to amend a new SBC Business and Financial Plan. The SBC Executive Committee, which is the denomination's administrative arm, put forward a new Business and Financial Plan this year for messengers to adopt. Executive Committee staff said this new version is a step toward greater transparency. But Burns saw the plan as a farce, and he tried to amend it. 'They did it in such a way to try to … take the bullet out of the chamber of those who are pushing for more transparency," Burns said in an interview prior to the June 11 floor debate. Ultimately, messengers strongly rejected Burns' proposed change and adopted the new Business and Financial Plan as presented by the Executive Committee. "I'm disappointed, but this isn't the end of the world," Burns said. "What I'm excited about is going back to Travelers Rest. … We have a lot of work to do at our church." Burns' motivation for his advocacy across the SBC started with his experience at his small-town church. Burns became the pastor at FBC Travelers Rest in 2023 after a ministry career that included seven years serving as a missionary in central Asia. But he long knew of FBC Travelers Rest from his grandparents, who had been longtime members there. There are two members at FBC Travelers Rest who have been there for 70 years, since their baptisms in May 1955. Other members are descendants of the forbearers who founded the church in 1913. 'They have been faithfully giving to this church and faithfully giving to the Cooperative Program,' Burns said. 'There's a gravity there for responsibility with our money. As pastor, I feel a sense of responsibility.' Since Burns' appointment and the addition at around the same time of members like Tweedy, the congregation has been more engaged with SBC news and governance concerns. For this year's convention in Dallas and last year's in Indianapolis, FBC Travelers Rest has sent more messengers than it typically has. Meanwhile, the same virtues have guided the congregation to re-examine its own financial practices. 'Some of the newer members were thinking, 'Hey, we need to be better stewards of what we're actually giving to the Cooperative Program, and making sure that money is being used properly,'' Tweedy said. The church formed a study group to review potential changes to the church's giving to national Southern Baptist ministries. That study group gave a report in April, and the congregation waited to make any final decisions until Burns and Tweedy report back from Dallas. Historically, 10% of FBC Travelers Rest's budget has gone toward the Cooperative Program, which in 2024 totaled $11,508. Now, the church is considering separating out that 10% share and selectively giving to some SBC entities and withholding from others. This model of targeted giving to certain entities is gaining popularity, and recent policy changes at the state level are allowing more churches to do that. There has been growing distrust toward certain entities in the wake of different controversies, causing churches to carefully consider whether their giving is consistent with their values. One example is that more churches are withholding giving to the SBC Executive Committee due to legal fees the committee is paying for abuse-related court battles. 'We're living in this moment where authority is being decentralized in some ways,' Burns said. 'The gatekeepers aren't gatekeeping in the same ways.' Related: What Southern Baptist budget debate says about denomination's precarious funding Elements of these deliberations in Dallas echo those of the 2019 and 2021 SBC annual meetings following a recommendation for financial accountability introduced by Morris Chapman, former chief executive for the SBC Executive Committee. 'It is our desire that we who are administrators and executives … be just as trustworthy and as honest as those serving in the field giving a report to us,' Chapman said at the 2019 meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. 'This year, the light has shined on our cooperative work in ways that revealed our need for reform.' Two years later, the SBC Executive Committee proposed changes to the Business and Financial Plan but faced fierce opposition, including from prominent Southern Baptists who today are top executives at SBC entities. Many were concerned that the proposal gave the SBC Executive Committee too much authority over other entities and their compliance with financial guidelines. The merit of that proposal aside, the fundamental concerns behind it are more prescient than ever. Cooperative Program giving has decreased by 6%, or $12.9 million, since the 2021-22 fiscal year, and many entities have reduced staffing totals since then. Also, the SBC Executive Committee, North American Mission Board, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have faced scrutiny for separation agreements between those entities and former executives who resigned, some in scandal. Southern Baptists have often wondered in those cases how much severance the entities paid those ousted executives. Amid this turmoil, Burns' congregation at FBC Travelers Rest has responded differently. Tweedy said some of his fellow parishioners think it's simplest for the church to leave the SBC altogether. Though sympathetic to that unease, Tweedy and Burns support a more balanced strategy. For example, the church can potentially change its giving practices to the national convention without jeopardizing its ability to send messengers to the SBC annual meetings and to continue to advocate for policy changes. To Tweedy, the best way to honor the church's legacy of financial support for the SBC is not to give up. 'Our folks have been giving faithfully for decades,' Tweedy said, 'and it would be irresponsible of us just to take our ball and go home.' Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at ladams@ or on social media @liamsadams. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Southern Baptist Convention: Pastor fights for financial accountability
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Private school families lose legal challenge against Labour VAT raid
Private school families have lost their High Court challenge against the Government over its decision to apply VAT on fees. Three separate challenges were heard together in a judicial review between April 1 and 3, using more than a dozen families as case studies. In a single written judgement issued on Friday, the three judges presiding over the case said they 'dismiss the claims'. Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Newey and Mr Justice Chamberlain said the VAT policy was 'proportionate' in its aim to raise extra revenue for state schools. Private school families sued the Government over its decision to apply 20 per cent VAT to fees, which came into force in January. Parent groups were seeking a 'declaration of incompatibility' under human rights laws. Even if successful, this would not have overturned the VAT policy in itself, but could have forced the Government to take a second look at the tax raid or hand out exemptions. The Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents more than 1,400 private schools, hired Lord Pannick KC, the leading human rights barrister, to spearhead its legal challenge. The case was wrapped together with two others, using children as case studies to highlight the alleged unfairness of the policy. They included children with special education needs (SEND) who are not eligible for tailored care plans, religious families with children at faith schools, and a girl at a single-sex school. Claimants argued that the VAT raid interferes with the fundamental right to education for some pupils, and disproportionately affects lower-income families. Julie Robinson, chief executive of the ISC, said: 'This is an unprecedented tax on education and it was right that its compatibility with human rights law was tested. 'We would like to thank the claimants who shared their stories on key issues: SEND, faith schools, bilingual provision and girls-only education. It showcased how vital independent schools are for many families and the broad, diverse community choosing what they feel is the right education for their child. 'The ISC is carefully considering the court's judgment and next steps. Our focus remains on supporting schools, families and children. We will continue to work to ensure the government is held to account over the negative impact this tax on education is having across independent and state schools.' More follows. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
