The pad
T minus nine minutes.
Cold propellant rolls in from the tanks and the rocket breathes out white vapour. The gantry stays until the last moments, and the range officer reads the weather one more time.
Small-launch company Sutherland, Scotland
Straight up from Scotland.
Skyward flies small satellites from a clifftop pad on the north coast, and takes a rocket into every school that asks.
Scroll to start the countdown
01 Mission SR-01
Mission SR-01, from the pad to orbit
Ignition
Five engines, one push.
The engines light, the clamps open and thirty tonnes of rocket decides to leave. The first hundred metres take longer than you expect, and then they do not.
Max-Q
The hardest minute.
Air pushes back hardest about a minute in. A ring of cloud forms around the shoulders where the pressure drops, and the engines ease off so the structure is not asked for too much.
Staging
Drop what you do not need.
The first stage has done its job. It lets go, the upper engine lights, and the fairing opens like a book to show the satellite inside.
Orbit
Sideways, fast enough to miss.
A spring pushes the satellite clear. Panels unfold, the antenna wakes up and the planet slides underneath at seven kilometres a second. Next stop: your choice.
- Clock
- T−09:00
- Altitude
- 0 km
- Speed
- 0 m/s
I / V
02 Your turn
Choose a payload.
Then pick its orbit.
The satellite and the track around the planet change with every choice. Drag the globe to look from anywhere.
Payload
Orbit
- Orbit
- Low orbit
- One lap
- 92.6 min
- Mass limit
- up to 12 kg
- Slot from
- £38,000
A shoebox-sized satellite with four unfolding solar wings and a gold-foil body.
Drag to look around the globe
03 What we sell
Three ways up.
Launch slots
For satellites.
Rideshare or dedicated, from the north coast, with a launch window in the first light of day.
- Rideshare slot, up to 12 kg£38,000
- Shared ride, up to 60 kg£290,000
- Dedicated launch, up to 180 kg£1.4m
School workshops
For classrooms.
Our team arrives with a cut-away rocket, a launch rail and a lot of foam. Pupils build, predict, fly and measure.
- Rocket Day, one class of up to 32£450
- Term programme, six sessions£2,400
- Teachers' evening, with supper£90
Supporter club
For the rest of us.
Watch the rocket being built, get launch-day updates first and put your name on the pad wall.
- Cadet, monthly updates£6 / month
- Crew, visitor centre pass and a patch£18 / month
- Flight director, front row at launch£60 / month
04 The small print
Small rockets, no shortcuts.
- Payload to low orbit
- 0kg
- a dedicated launch, with room to spare
- Schools in the programme
- 0
- from Shetland to the Borders
- Launches flown
- 0
- seven to orbit, two for practice
- Pad to orbit
- 0s
- eight minutes and forty seconds
05 Get in touch
Book a slot.
Tell us what you are flying, or what your class would like to build. We reply within two working days.
Thank you. We will check the manifest and write back within two working days. Wrap up warm if you visit, the pad wind is real.
06 Visit
Find the pad.
Address
Strathmor Launch Site
Cape Strathmor, Sutherland
KW00 0XX
Visitor centre
Wednesday to Sunday
10:00 to 16:00
Launch days by announcement
Schools office
Monday to Friday
09:00 to 17:00
01632 960 412
hello@skywardrocketry.example
schools@skywardrocketry.example