An environmental assessment of Shetland’s planned SaxaVord spaceport has been put out for consultation.
Up to 30 vertical rocket launches a year over a period of 30 years have been proposed from the site at Lamba Ness on Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland islands.
The launch vehicles would be between 13m (43ft) and 30m (98ft) in height and carry small satellites into space.
Details in the consultation documents include safety commitments, such as no rocket launches over inhabited areas of Shetland, oil fields, the Faroe Islands and Iceland.
There would also be no launches or static rocket tests carried out between mid-May and the end of June to avoid disturbing breeding birds.
Unst’s 135 bird species include red-throated divers, merlins, puffins and Arctic terns.
Among the spaceport’s expected economic impact is the creation of more than 200 jobs in Shetland.
