The Skyrora team with the Skylark L suborbital vehicle. Photo: Skyrora

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has granted Skyrora a license to launch its suborbital rocket from the SaxaVord Spaceport. 

The approval, announced Tuesday, allows Skyrora to launch up to 16 times per year. It is the first time CAA has approved a U.K.-based company to launch from the U.K. 

Earlier this year, CAA granted German launcher Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) the first license to launch from SaxaVord. RFA has not yet attempted a launch from the spaceport. 

“Granting home-grown company Skyrora its launch license is a major milestone for our space sector and our nation. Our work as the U.K.’s space regulator is enabling the burgeoning launch industry to safely grow, bringing new jobs and investment with it,” Rob Bishton, CEO of CAA, said in a release. 

Skyrora did not give an expected launch date, but said the Skylark L is “operationally ready for launch,” and that the company is finalizing launch plans. 

“It is essential that the U.K. has sovereign launch capabilities. Not only to unlock commercial activity for companies that need to access space and to help achieve the government’s objectives for becoming a global player in the space sector, but also from a strategic defencs consideration. Skyrora is proud to be leading efforts that enable launch activity from the UK and we look forward to achieving a reliable commercial launch program that benefits us all,” CEO Volodymyr Levykin said. 

Skylark L is 11 meters tall and can carry a payload mass of 50 kg. It was originally designed to validate subsystems for the larger, orbital rocket Skyrora XL, but it has commercial applications for microgravity experiments. 

Skyrora previously attempted to launch Skylark L from a mobile launch site in Iceland in 2022 but the vehicle experienced an anomaly shortly after launch.