by The founder of the first vertical spatial harbor Great Britain has died without Rockets starting from Great Britain.
Frank Strang, 67, who, with his wife Debbie (60) in Shetland in Shetland, did a Saxavord Spaceport, died after a short fight against cancer.
Mr. Strang was the driving force behind the room, but informed the Telegraph in 2023 that the heavy struggle, which is taken seriously, had a lot of burden on the life of Saxavord employees.
“As a company, we had divorce, deaths, the bailiffs and almost bankruptcy,” he said.
“We had to contest both houses. It almost killed me, my ashes will probably rise with the first start.”
Mr. Strang, a former teacher of the Royal Air Force Physical Education, scored his wife Debbie when they worked at RAF Losssiemouth in the 1990s.
After leaving the Air Force, the couple took over several disused defense facilities for regeneration and acquired RAF Saxavord to UN in 2004.
The 20 hectare area was an air force base in the Second World War and more recently a hearing position during the Cold War.
The couple initially had gas workers on the premises, but in 2017 the British space agency started a competition that was looking for a indoor camp to work with Lockheed Martin and ABL to develop satellite skills from Great Britain.
A feasibility study indicated that Saxavord was the best place, but the contract was awarded to Sutherland Spaceport, so that the strand was forced to make him alone with a core team of friends and space enthusiasts.
Without the support of the government, the team tried to find investors who believed that they were serious. The employees had to work on half salaries or free of charge, and only when the progress in Sutherland and other European room runs stalled, rocket companies knocked on Saxavords door.
The first vertical introduction of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and its range license was granted to the room port the following year.
Two rocket companies now also have licenses for the start of the location, whereby the first withdrawal is expected within the next six months and delivers small satellites and space experiments in the orbit.
“We had a background to let things happen”
Mr. Strang told the Telegraph that the first start “two fingers for people who tried to get us out of business”.
“When we started, we had no idea what we got involved in,” he said. “None of us had a background in space. We only had a background to make things happen. It is a local hero hits Rocky.”
Mr. Strang was forced to withdraw from business in July after diagnosed with cancer in the final stage. But he swore not to “throw in the towel” and said he still hoped to live long enough to see the first start.
Saxavord said that Mr. Strang’s death was “devastating”, but it made the company more determined to deliver a successful start.
Scott Hammond, an ex-fighter pilot and deputy managing director of Saxavord, who is expected to take over the takeover of Mr. Strang and his wife, was one of the original founders.
Skyrora aims to carry out orbital starts from Saxavord – Skyrora
He said: “I have been a friend and colleague of Frank since our days together in the RAF, so that his death is so young both personally and professionally.
“When we identified the prospects for a room camp at Lamba Ness for the first time in the UNST, Frank would not take no for an answer and broke barriers that deterred fewer people.
“He was a real nature of nature, and his vision and grit brought us where we are today, and take the Unst and Shetland communities, investors and government with them.
“But our mission is not complete – my job is now to not only deliver the first start, but also successive starts that the United Kingdom as a leading Europe leader for access to space.
“Both me and the Saxavord team are a strong sense of responsibility to provide Frank this goal, and we will have no doubt.”
