Unite welcomes Spacehub announcement in Sutherland

Unite the union has today (25 June) thrown its support behind the proposed Spacehub at A’Mhoine in North West Sutherland.

The Sutherland site was selected from twenty six proposals submitted. Only two of the proposals were given grant funding those being Lockheed Martin and Orbex. The site selection was based on a number of criteria with the involvement of the UK Space agency in the due diligence process before the decision. The Spacehub will host the launching of small satellites from the A’Mhoine peninsula from the early 2020s. The development is viewed as a key part of Scotland’s growing space sector as Highlands and Islands Enterprise claim around forty high quality jobs would be created locally, part of a total of more than 400 across the wider Highlands and Islands.

Richard Whyte, Unite regional industrial officer, said: “Both the Highland Council and NHS Highland forecast large population decline in the coming years for Sutherland and Caithness. This means it’s vital to attract investment in industries and skills such as the Spacehub project which will create hundreds of new high quality jobs in the area. There are currently billions of pounds worth of investment in energy and infrastructure taking place across the Highlands but much of the workforce drive up from the Central belt. We need to find ways to make sure as much of the investment benefits local people, particularly, young people leaving school who are looking for employment and that’s why Unite is putting its full weight behind this project.”