Speakers

Speaker profile

Debbie Strang is a founder Director and the Chief Operating Officer of SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst, Shetland, the UK’s first vertical facility with access to sun-synchronous and polar orbits.  The Spaceport License was awarded in December 2023 and the Range License is expected shortly.  Building on successful engine tests with HyImpulse and Latitude last year the first launch is planned for later this year with Rocket Factory Augsburg.  The highly specialised and rapidly growing team currently stands at 65 and the operational staff are well on their way to developing the systems and processes to enable 30 launches per year from 3 launch pads.

She is a former RAF Operations Officer, worked for the Cairngorms National Park as Economic Development Manager and 10 years ago set up the UK’s most northly distillery in Unst, creating award-winning Shetland Reel Gin, which is located less than 2 miles from the launch site.